From Dust
by RogueWarden
Summary: Seven Wardens survived the joining in Ostagar, some managed to survive the battle only to be thrown into another one. They will save Ferelden, but will these strangers become friends? (All origins- some twists on canon. F/M F/F pairing. Was previously rated M, but was changed because the sketchy parts won't come for a while.)
1. Prologue

Duncan, Commander of the Fereldan Grey Wardens, needed to recruit more Wardens for the battle at Ostagar; the Blight demanded it. While the Wardens in Ferelden were strong and dedicated, they were few. Only a couple dozen were in Ferelden and all of them were at Ostagar. He had mentioned to King Cailan about calling the Orlesian Wardens to help. Cailan agreed, but his general, Teyrn Loghain, was not so supportive. Still holding a grudge from the time Orlais occupied Ferelden and he had to take back his home with King Maric, he was angry for days. Part of the reason for his anger was from the mere suggestion of help from the Orlesians, and the other was because he knew they needed it.

While Duncan had no intention of angering the nobles, they still needed help. Duncan had kept in contact with Riordan, an Orlesian Warden. They grew up in Highever together and went through the joining at the same time. He was in Orlais at the moment, but was Fereldan by birth. He kept Riordan updated with the current Darkspawn crisis. None of the soldiers took the threat seriously, but the Grey Wardens knew it was the start of a Blight.

When Duncan first started feeling the change that could only be associated with an Archdemon, he gathered up all the Wardens in Ferelden and had a meeting to discuss the dream they all had. Every Warden he knew of was with him. Even the newest recruit, Alistair, who had only been a Warden for five months prior to the sudden awakening of the god, had felt… something. He had asked Duncan about it and that's when he realized it might not have been his Calling -which had started six weeks later- and something bigger was afoot.

Duncan trusted Riordan with his life and needed a higher ranking Warden other than himself. The Senior Warden here was strong and a good leader, as he had to be, but he had tried to kill Duncan once in a drunken outburst. Duncan was a forgiving man but "what the drunken man says is what the sober man thinks" and when Senior Warden Milo pointed his sword at Duncan and made a poor case of why he should be the Commander, then promptly passed out, Duncan was slightly suspicious of him next time they spoke. Fortunately for Milo, he had forgotten about what he did while drunk, but Duncan still didn't fully trust him.

He sent out a letter requesting Riordan come alone from Orlais to Ferelden. Riordan had started traveling three days after receiving that letter, and made record timing of only a week and a half by sea. Duncan had told him of what he had seen and formed a plan of action. They had met at Highever and when word spread of them looking for more members, Teryn Cousland had planned a grand tournament and the permission for them to recruit the winner. The winner was a knight named Ser Jory who left with Duncan to go to Denerim.

They would travel separately across Ferelden in search of recruits. They agreed that Riordan could take the western-most part of Ferelden, and Duncan would take the east. Riordan had set off with a small group of Wardens to head to Orzammar, Redcliffe, and the Circle while Duncan went to the Brecilian Forest and Denerim with his own small squad. After every stop he gave the recruit the choice to go directly to Ostagar with one of the Wardens that came with him, or to come with him in search of more recruits.

From Highever, Riordan went to the Circle first and recruited two mages, the silent Luna Surana and the talkative Zoey Amell, who were First Enchanter Irving's star students. He then headed to Orzammar, recruiting the duster, Dayanara Brosca, who won the proving illegally, but was too good a fighter to not recruit. On the way to Ostagar, they stopped at Redcliffe and picked up the last recruit, another of Arl Eamons knights, Ser Aubrey; she was talked about highly among the Arl's soldiers.

Meanwhile, Duncan went to Denerim and recruited Kaylee Tabris, daughter of Adaia Tabris, whom he had tried to recruit years ago, and Daveth, the cut-purse he recruited because he reminded him of himself before becoming Warden and showed promise. Then it was down the Brecilian Forest to find the Dalish, recruiting a tainted young elf warrior named Kenai Mahariel.

He met up with Riordan on the way to Ostagar. When he passed Lothering, he sent Ser Jory, Daveth, and Riordan's recruits to Ostagar with the Wardens they traveled with, and headed north to Highever with Riordan once more to get the last recruit, Ser Gilmore.

He was there for less than a day before Arl Howe attacked the castle and killed Fergus Cousland's wife and son, and everyone else inside the castle. Elissa would not leave unless Duncan and Riordan made a deal with her; she would leave if one of them stayed to protect her parents. Duncan was about to decline, but Riordan stepped forward and said he'd stay, much to Duncan's dismay. Riordan claimed Bryce had saved his life while he was a child in Highever and it was all he could do to try to save his. Duncan only got Kenai, Kaylee, and the Teyrn's only daughter, Elissa Cousland with her Mabari, Duke, out alive.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **I have big plans for this story, I plan to cover the whole of origins and Inquisition. I will only summarize DA2 because I don't plan on adding any characters.**

 **The way I'm setting up the origins is special, each of my wardens will have a unique 'personal quest like the regular companions and I will have a flashback to their origin right before that quest.**

 **I'm pretty excited, I hope you will like this story!**


	2. Ostagar: Cousland

Cousland's POV

Just a few more miles and we will be at Ostagar. I will tell the king about what happened and find Fergus; I have to find Fergus.

The last mile went by in a blur, my mother's armour that covered me like a second skin, and bow were the only physical things I focused on. The tower of Ostagar grew on the horizon until it towered over our small posse. I heard Duncan talk about the Blight and battles to our elven companions, but I wasn't listening.

The shadow of the gate passed over us and we were greeted by a squad of guards and King Cailan himself. It's been a few years since I'd last seen him; I'm not sure if he'll remember me. I stayed to the far side of my companions, hoping that Cailan would talk with the others before me.

"Ho there! Duncan!" Duncan's eyes widened considerably and he risked a glance in our direction.

"King Cailan? I wasn't expecting-"

Cailan's smile widened, "A royal welcome? I was beginning to think you'd miss all the fun!"

Kenai narrowed his eyes at that statement, but Duncan kept his composure and stepped forward to greet the king.

"Not if I can help it, Your Majesty." Cailan didn't seem to hear the dryness of his tone.

"Then I'll have the mighty Duncan at my side in the battle after all! Glorious!" He grinned and waved his arms wildly, before he noticed Duncan's travel companions for what seemed like the first time. "And these must be the promising recruits the other Wardens told me about." He flicked his gaze onto the elves beside me, lingering on the sickly Kenai. Duncan spoke up again.

"Ah yes. Let me introduce you, Your Majesty."

"No need to be so formal, Duncan! we'll be shedding blood together, after all." He stepped towards Kaylee, who was closest to Duncan. "Ho there friend, might I know your name?"

She stepped forward and raised her eyes to pierce the King's. I noticed his smile falter slightly.

"Name is Kaylee. Call me Tabris." She stood with her back straight and arms crossed.

"I see you're an elf, friend. From where do you hail?" Her stance relaxed slightly when he called her 'friend.'

"I'm from Denerim." His smile grew.

"As am I! Though I haven't been in the palace in ages. Do you come from the Alienage? Tell me, how is it there? My guards all but forbid me from going there." She was quiet for a moment, as if debating what to say.

"I had to kill the arl's son for raping my cousin and killing my fiance." What? This was news to me. Can't say I'm sad to hear that Vaughan Kendells is dead, though. Cailan's expression was priceless, pure alarm mixed with confusion. Duncan's was not so amusing though; he kept his stoic expression and jumped in almost immediately.

"You—What?!"

"Your Majesty, I would not have put it so bluntly. There are events in Denerim you should be aware of."

"So it would seem. I will hear more about this matter later." He turned to Kenai, who was looking at the ground and rocking back and forth slightly. "And are you from Denerim as well?"

Kenai looked up and stumbled backwards a bit, catching himself before he fell. The taint must really be catching up with him.

"That is Kenai Mahariel. He was a Dalish elf but he contacted the taint. We plan to turn him into a Warden before it takes over." Duncan supplied him.

"You are Dalish? I hear your people possess remarkable skill and honour." Kenai spoke for himself this time.

"I thought humans considered us dangerous vagrants." Cailan managed to look sheepish at that.

"To be fair, your people can be a bit… standoffish. Not that I blame them, of course. I'll tell you this: You are very welcome here. The Grey Wardens will benefit greatly with you amongst them." Kenai nodded his thanks and Cailan turned to me. It took him a moment to recognize me. "You are Bryce's youngest, are you not? Elissa Cousland, it's been years!"

"Yes Your Majesty, and I... I bring important news." I steeled myself for what I was about to say.

"Is it about your father? He hasn't arrived yet, your brother has been concerned about him." I took a deep breath before continuing.

"He… He's not coming. He was betrayed by Arl Howe and...died when our castle was taken." I felt the pressure behind my eyes, but I kept a cold exterior. I can grieve later, when I find Fergus. Cailan's eyes widened considerably.

"Dead?! What do you mean? Duncan, do you know anything about this?" Duncan nodded solemnly at the question.

"I'm afraid what she says is true. Teyrn Cousland and his wife are dead, Your Majesty. Arl Howe has shown himself a traitor and overtaken Highever Castle. Had we not escaped, he would have killed us and told you any story he wished." Cailan started pacing as Duncan talked, his face falling with every word. I could feel my heartbeat speeding as I remembered that night in vivid detail. The blood, the bodies, the faces of my friends and family frozen in fear.

"I… can scarcely believe it! How could he think he would get away with such treachery?" He stopped pacing and stood directly in front of me. "As soon as we are done here, I will turn my army north and bring Howe to justice. You have my word." I suppose that is all he can do. As long as I can tell Fergus, we can deal with Howe later.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Do you know where Fergus is? I have to be the one to tell him what happened."

Cailan winced as he spoke, "Unfortunately, he and his men are scouting the wilds." What? No! I need to tell him immediately.

"When will he be back?" Urgency laced my words.

"Nightfall is the soonest I'd expect him back, though he may be scouting until the battle is over, I fear. Until then, we cannot even send word. I apologize, but there is nothing more I can do. All I can suggest is that you vent your grief against the darkspawn for the time being."

"Thanks. Your Majesty." This was forced through clenched teeth and I directed my gaze to the ground.

"I'm sorry to cut this short, but I should return to my tent. Loghain waits eagerly to bore me with his strategies." Cailan continued to speak with Duncan, but I ignored his bravado and focused on my thoughts. Fergus wouldn't know that our family was dead.

He wouldn't know that his wife and child were butchered in his room; I suppose it's better he doesn't know the details. Not like I know them. They're etched into my eyelids whenever I close my eyes, whenever I sleep. I'll never forget the face of my nephew as he lay in a pool of his own blood, or the sound of our mother's scream when she saw him. Fergus doesn't need to know that part.

Cailan walked away and Duncan turned to us to speak about the battle. He spoke about his feelings on the conflict and the darkspawn, while Kaylee asked him questions on what he thinks they should do. Duncan led us over a bridge where he mentioned a ritual, which Kaylee was very suspicious about. I don't care anymore, just get it over with and let me see my brother.

"There is another Grey Warden in the camp named Alistair. When you are ready, seek him out and tell him it is time to summon the other recruits, there are six others." He turned to face me, "Elissa, try to keep your identity a secret if you can as Howe may have someone looking for you. Your hound can stay with me while I attend to some business." I looked down at Duke and gave him a scratch on the head.

"Okay, I'll use a different name. You should probably hold onto my shield then too. It's kind of a dead give away. Duke, be good." Duncan took my family shield and nodded as the mabari sauntered behind him, then turned to the whole group.

"The Grey Warden tent is on the other side of this bridge. We will be there, should you need us." With that he walked away with Duke at his heels, leaving us to our own devices. Kaylee shrugged and walked forward, and Kenai and I followed after her.

* * *

The camp was bustling with activity, servants running, soldiers marching, and people yelling all around us. A bald, grimy man ran into Kaylee, nearly knocking her over, and had the audacity to yell at her.

"You bloody useless knife-ear! Get out of me way, servant." How dare he! I could see the fire burn in Kaylee's golden eyes as she was about to yell right back. I beat her to it though; I will not stand for disrespect to elves.

"Don't you dare call her that! She is a Grey Warden and you will speak to her with respect!" He turned his glare on me and I could smell his breath. I saw his tunic had the Amaranthine bear on it. It doesn't surprise me that this was one of Howe's men.

"An' who're you? The Warden's slut?" At that Kenai made an appearance and punched the man in the nose, hard. The slimy bastard fell to the ground with a broken nose, screaming about knife-ears and yelling insults that revolved around our mothers. A few people gathered around because of the man's ruckus. Among this group was an elven mage clad in teal robes with white hair, but a surprisingly young face. She didn't say anything, just watched the man then walked up a ramp.

She came back a moment later with another mage, although this one was a human, who had long dark hair and dark blue robes. The new mage put her hand a few inches away from the man's face and it glowed with a soft yellow light. The nose seemed to correct its position on its own and the bleeding stopped. The crowd then realized the fight was over and that they had to get back to their duties, leaving only the mages and the man.

Tabris spat on the ground beside him and he scurried away, glaring as he went. Great first impression of the camp. The dark haired mage walked up to Tabris and asked about the incident.

"Who was that man? He seemed very angry at you." I got a closer look at her and her companion. She had light brown eyes and long black hair, whereas the elf had snow-white hair and bright green eyes that almost matched Kenai's, and wore what looked like a Dalish necklace, similar to the one Kenai wore. Tabris spoke to the mages.

"Oh, him? Just a rat. He was offended that he ran into an elf and I didn't immediately get on my knees to pray for forgiveness." She added a eye roll and hand motions to her answer. The mage nodded her head in understanding.

"He certainly seemed like a rat." She jumped slightly and red tinted her cheeks. "Oh! Where are my manners? I am Zoey Amell, spirit healer and Grey Warden recruit. It's a pleasure to meet you." She smiled sweetly and gestured to her companion. "This is my friend, Luna. She's a Warden recruit as well. She can't talk outside of the Fade." She was one of the other recruits we were told about. I haven't thought of a name yet, so I'll just go with my middle name. It was used as often as 'Elissa' back home.

"You're a Warden recruit? We are too. We just came with Duncan. I'm Kaylee, but most people just call me Tabris. This is Kenai Mahariel and—"

I interrupted with my new alias, "Rosaleine." She looked at me before continuing with an improvised last name.

"—Rosaleine Corbsten." Oh Maker. Never letting her lie about me without consulting me first again. "What do you mean she can't speak outside the Fade? What's the Fade?" The mage, Zoey, seemed to get excited at the question, like Aldous when I asked a question about history.

"The Fade is where all magic comes from. It's where you go when you sleep. Mages are connected to the Fade and can tap into it for power. Everyone goes into the Fade... Except dwarves; they can't." Tabris slowly nodded, narrowing her eyes as she processed the information.

"My people call it the Beyond. It gives the Keepers their powers." Zoey turned her attention to Kenai, momentarily forgetting the small lesson.

"Are you Dalish? Irving thinks Luna was Dalish, but she doesn't remember anything from before she was brought to the Circle." Kenai looked at Luna, who was stoic as she looked at his tattoos. Kenai was pensive for a moment.

"How old is she?" Zoey looked confused at the question but answered.

"We're pretty sure she's around 17. The Templars found her when she was around eleven. But like I said, she doesn't remember much from before then. Why? Do you know her?"

"No." That was Kenai's only response. Zoey looked between the two of them for a moment before focusing back on Kenai and taking a step towards him.

"Are you sick? You look very pale and... Sickly." She touched her hand to his forehead and immediately jumped back. "You're... you're tainted. You need help immediately. Come with me, we'll take you to the healers' tents to try to slow the Blight." She started towards a bundle of tents, nearly dragging Kenai. Luna gave us a slight nod goodbye and set off after them. Tabris and I shared a concerned look before she let out a breath,and started twirling her dagger.

"Well. I think Kenai will be fine with them. I'm going to see what the merchant has to offer and maybe sharpen these bad boys. You should go find that Warden Duncan told us to find." She started towards the middle of camp, testing her twin blades on her leather cuffs.

* * *

I walked around part of the camp, no closer to finding the Warden than I was when I got here. I ended up in an area full of tents and mages; one tent had an open flap and I could hear voices that sounded like Zoey coming from within. Zoey might know where Warden Alistair is. She could have seen him before we arrived.

I ducked under the entrance to see Kenai sitting on a cot with Zoey and an old woman looking over him, Luna was standing in the corner.

"Excuse me, Zoey?" She looked up at me and smiled politely, "Do you know where Warden Alistair is? I haven't been here long and I'm afraid I don't know this camp well."

"I think the Revered Mother asked him to deliver a message to Keagan, but I don't know where they are now, sorry."

Then the old woman shared her knowledge of his location, "The young Warden was in the northern ruins. Just past the merchant and mage quarters." Her voice was smoother than I'd expected. She turned her head to looked at me and and her face shifted into a sort of recognition that didn't make sense. "My name is Wynne, you must be the other Warden recruit."

"Yes, I am. I'm Rosaleine." Wynne raised her eyebrows at my answer.

"Are you from Highever?" I looked at her suspiciously.

"Yes." She looked over me again and shook her head.

"I always liked Highever. Take care, child." She gave me a small smile and watched me as I left.

I nodded my goodbye and set off towards the northern ruins. Why did she look at me like that? That was weird.

On the way to the ruins I saw Teyrn Loghain's tent. I should talk to him about Howe quickly; he might be able to help. I spoke with his guard and managed to get an audience with the Teyrn. The guard stepped into the tent before emerging with the Teyrn a moment later.

"Yes, what is it?" It had been quite a few years since I'd seen the Teyrn, but he looked older than I'd expected.

"Teyrn Loghain? May we speak in private?" He squinted at me before nodding his head and gesturing me to follow him into his tent.

"You are Bryce's youngest, are you not?" He walked to the side of a table with a strategy map on it as I nodded. "The king told me of his promise. I am certain he has every intention of following it through. I already suggested a course of action when the battles here are over, but I'm afraid there is nothing else I can do to help. I also hear you will be becoming a Grey Warden. I don't suppose you will be riding into the thick of battle with the rest of you're fellows, will you?" He seemed to sneer when he said 'Grey Warden'.

"I certainly hope not."

"You are wiser than you look. Now if there is nothing else I must return to my task. Pray that our king proves amenable to wisdom, if you're the praying sort."

"And if he doesn't?" He shook his head solemnly and placed his arms on the sides of the table, so he was leaning over the map.

"Then simply pray." I might as well leave then, if there is no way he can help.

"Then I shall take my leave." I took a step to the exit before remembering that I'm not using my name. "Ser, I'm using an alias so Howe's men do not know I'm alive. I would appreciate it if you did not call me by my real name around anyone other than Duncan and Cailan." He nodded in understanding and I took my leave.

I continued on my trek to the northern ruins and passed Tabris at the merchants stall; she was getting heated about the price of one whet stone from what I could hear. I headed up a ramp towards the crumbling building and heard an angry man's voice echoing off the drafty walls.

"What is it now? Haven't the Grey Wardens asked more than enough of the Circle? You already took two of our best into your cult." I had reached the top of the ramp and saw a mage talking to whom I presume is Alistair. He was a tall man with blonde hair that was spiked in the front; he wore silver and blue Warden armour with a shield on his back and a sword at his hip. He was pretty cute; he couldn't have been more than a year older than me. His face was familiar though, as if I'd seen him before.

"I simply came to deliver a message from the revered mother, ser mage. She desires your presence." It seemed like this Warden was trying his best to politely deliver his message, but the mage continued to treat him as a nuisance.

"What her Reverence 'desires' is of no concern to me! I am busy helping the Grey Wardens—by the king's orders, I might add." I wonder why this mage is so mad.

"Should I have asked her to write a note?" The Warden's humorous tone and smile, despite the mage's anger, brought a small smile to my face.

"Tell her I will not be harassed in this manner."

"Yes, I was harassing you by delivering a message." The mage only seemed to get angrier at that.

"Your glibness does you no credit." He was glaring and crossed his arms while waiting for the next remark.

"Here I thought we were getting along so well. I was even going to name one of my children after you..." Alistair's previous joyful tone turned monotonous and he crossed his arms to match the mage's. "The grumpy one." I let out a small laugh at that one, which must have been the first laugh since I left Highever. Alistair whipped his head in my direction; he looked surprised that there was someone listening, but smiled when he saw me.

"Enough! I will speak to the woman if I must! Get out of my way, fool!" The mage pushed past me as he stormed down the ramp. Does no one here have any respect for the Wardens or women around here?

"You know, one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together." I could almost feel the sarcasm. He brings out my old self, the one who jokes and speaks only in sarcasm. I might as well play along.

"I know exactly what you mean." The easy smile he gave me made me smile slightly.

"It's like a party: we could all stand in a circle and hold hands. That would give the darkspawn something to think about." His smile fell and he squinted at me suspiciously, "Wait, we haven't met have we? I don't suppose you happen to be another mage?" I snorted a laugh.

"Would that make your day worse?"

"Hardly. I just like to know my chances of being turned into a toad at any given moment." He looked me over and his gaze paused on the bow peeking over my shoulder then flicked to the sword at my hip. "Wait, are you one of Duncan's recruits?" I nodded and he continued, "You must be the one from Highever. I should have recognised you right away. I apologize."

"How could you have recognized me? I'm not who Duncan originally went to Highever for."

"Duncan sent word. He spoke quite highly of you, said you were the daughter of one of his old friends. It's a shame about Riordan though, Duncan told me what happened. He was a good man; he was at my joining." He pushed his slight frown off his face and replaced it with a large smile. "Allow me to introduce myself: I am Alistair, the new Grey Warden—though I guess you knew that. As the junior member of the order, I'll be accompanying you when you prepare for the joining." He bowed slightly when he introduced himself.

"Pleased to meet you, my name's Rosaleine."

"Really? I didn't think that was the name, I could be mistaken though. You know... it just occurred to me that there have never been many women in the Grey Wardens. I wonder why that is?" I crossed my arms and gave him a pointed look.

"I can handle myself better than most." I mean I fought my way through my home in the middle of the night while horribly outnumbered and lived to tell the tale. He looked over my armour and arms once again.

"I'm getting that impression. So I'm curious: Have you ever actually encountered darkspawn?" I shook my head.

"Have you?" He winced before telling of his encounter.

"When I fought my first one, I wasn't prepared for how monstrous it was. I can't say I'm looking forward to encountering another. Anyhow, whenever you're ready let's find the others and get back to Duncan. I imagine he's eager to get things started." He probably is.

"I look forward to travelling with you."

"You do? Huh, that a switch. If you have any questions, let me know. Otherwise, lead on!" With that we started walking down the ramp towards the tents where some other recruits might be. We walked in silence until I spoke up.

"So... Tell me a little about yourself." It seemed that Alistair was preparing to ask me a question as his response was very quick.

"You first. Did you want to become a Grey Warden?" That was a tough question. I did and then I didn't and I still don't, although I'm getting used to the idea of me becoming a Grey Warden. I know that this is where I am now, and there is no way for me to change it.

"Well, I wanted to, then... then somethings changed and... I'm not against becoming a Warden, but I would rather be somewhere else." Alistair nodded at my answer and dodged a frantic servant that was running by.

"I was conscripted myself, not that I didn't want to join. I was training as a Templar for the Chantry before Duncan recruited me. That was about six months ago." I didn't expect that.

"A Templar? So you were a mage hunter?"

"That's right. But joining the Chantry wasn't my idea. My fate was decided for me long before that. Duncan saw I wasn't happy, and figured my training against mages could double for fighting darkspawn. Now, here I stand a proud Grey Warden. The grand cleric wouldn't have let me go if Duncan never forced the issue. I'll always be very grateful to him." He paused when we saw Kaylee in the dog kennel putting a muzzle on a mabari. Kaylee saw us when she stood up and waved me over.

"Hey El— Rosaleine. This Alistair?" She said my name slowly as if she were testing how it sounded.

"Yeah. Alistair, this is the other recruit, Kaylee Tabris. Kaylee, this is Alistair." Kaylee jumped over the kennel fence and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet cha'. Kenai is around here somewhere; he's feeling better now after the mage did her magic stuff to him. He was going to help me find a flower for this dog."

"What's wrong with the dog?" I looked at the Mabari in the kennel and noticed how sad it looked.

"Oh, it's tainted. He and Kenai have a lot in common. The flower is going to flush the taint out or something." Interesting. I'll have to remember that for Duke.

"It's been a pleasure, but Duncan will want to start the joining as soon as possible. We should gather the others and head to Duncan's fire." Alistair, Kaylee, and I walked around to where the two mages and Kenai had been. We rounded the tents and saw warriors talking to a blonde dwarf. We couldn't hear what they were talking about, but the warriors seemed to hold the dwarf in high regard. When we got close enough for the dwarf to see us she excused herself from the group and walked over to Alistair.

"Warden Alistair, has Duncan arrived?" The dwarf had long blonde hair in a pony tail and grey eyes, there was a black tattoo over one eye and cheek. Two axes sat on her back.

"Yes, these are two of the recruits he brought back. Rosaleine, Kaylee, this is Daya Brosca, one of the other recruits. Were you talking to the Ash Warriors? Did they say whether or not they cuddle their dogs when they sleep? They wouldn't tell me." Daya chuckled.

"They said they prefer to cuddle with each other. Pleasure to meet you. Are we starting the joining soon? The suspense has been killing me." Alistair gave a boyish chuckle at her answer.

"As soon as we find the other recruits and bring them to Duncan. Can you find Ser Jory, Ser Aubrey, and Daveth then bring them to the fire in the middle of camp?"

"Sure can. See you there in a bit." She walked off deeper into the camp and we continued searching for Kenai and the two mages.

* * *

We found Zoey helping injured soldiers at the healing station, and Luna close by. Kenai was on the wall talking to the bowmen about archery, and giving them tips which most were eager to hear from a Dalish elf. Kenai was looking better after Zoey treated him, but he was still quite pale. We made it to the fire that Duncan was at and saw he was talking to a soldier, but Daya and three others were waiting patiently beside him.

"—certain there is another explanation for this." Duncan seemed to be mid-conversation with the soldier.

"No there's not. My mate saw her sneaking the lunch away from Drew, the guy guarding the deserter. Practically caught her red handed." Kaylee sidestepped behind me and peeked her head around my arm. Duke came running from around the fire and jumped up playfully. I smiled as he licked my face and crouched down to give him a belly rub. Alistair gave me a funny smile and the others in the group gave me a weird look. Kaylee was left standing in plain sight after I crouched and she slowly moved behind Kenai.

"Be careful, you are speaking about a Grey Warden. I trust her word over your man. In any event, I vouch for the good conduct of all the Wardens here. Are we clear?" Duncan's arms were crossed and his face was set in an intimidating calm. Although the soldier seemed frustrated at this outcome, he dropped it.

"Yes Warden." He then walked away and Duncan turned to Kaylee. She stepped out from behind Kenai and made a face like a child being scolded.

"I need to say something to you; you are a worthy and skilled recruit, and I know of your talents of slight of hand. That is a good thing; Grey Wardens use a diverse range of skills and tools to accomplish their missions, but the law is very hard on thieves. Ferelden still bears mistrust on our order, so practice these skills with caution. Your standing as a Warden will not always help you." Duncan's tone was slow and calm.

"But I need to practice getting better somehow..." She wasn't helping her case much, but Duncan only smiled at her.

"Certainly. Just don't get caught." He reminded me of father when he said that, always making sure Fergus and I knew what we did wrong, but rarely punishing us. Duncan scanned the group and nodded, then settled his eyes on me as I stood up from where I was petting Duke. "So you found Alistair? Good. I assume you are ready to begin preparations." He gave a pointed look at Alistair beside him, "Assuming, of course, that you're quite finished riling up mages, Alistair." Alistair gave his mentor a sheepish look.

"What can I say? The revered mother ambushed me. The way she wields guilt, they should stick her in the army."

"She forced you to sass the mage, did she? We cannot afford to antagonize anyone, Alistair. We don't need to give anyone more ammunition against us." Alistair looked to his feet then back to Duncan.

"You're right, Duncan. I apologize." Duncan nodded and turned back to the large group.

"Now then, since you're all here, we can begin. I trust you have all made your introductions?" One of the men I had not yet met took a step forward. He wore plate armour and a helmet that covered his face. He took off his helmet and underneath was short brown hair, green eyes, and surprisingly feminine features. He... She introduced herself and the man beside her.

"I am Ser Aubrey and this is Ser Jory, we were trained as knights in Redcliffe. Pleasure to meet you." She and Ser Jory gave a slight bow, and the third man spoke up.

"The name's Daveth. It's about time you guys showed up; we were about to do the joining without you." Duncan looked at Alistair who shook his head and mouthed a 'No, we weren't'.

"Sorry, shit happens. I'm Rosaleine, and this is Kaylee and Kenai." I subtly winked at Duncan after I said my 'name' and he nodded his approval.

"Now, let's get started. You all will go into the Korcari Wilds to preform two tasks. The first is to obtain nine vials of darkspawn blood, one for each recruit." We're going into the Wilds? Maybe I will find Fergus.

"Why do we need darkspawn blood?" Zoey delivered the question like an experienced student. Duncan's answer was smooth and quick.

"It is necessary for the joining ritual." Zoey asked another question.

"What's the second task?"

"There was once a Grey Warden archive in the Wilds, abandoned long ago when we could no longer afford to maintain such remote outposts. It has recently come to our attention that some scrolls have been left behind, magically sealed to protect them. Alistair, I want you to retrieve these scrolls if you can." Zoey spoke up again with yet another question.

"What kind of scrolls are these? Why are they so important that they were magically sealed?"

"Old treaties, if you're curious. Promises of support made to the Grey Wardens years ago. They were once considered only formalities. With so many having forgotten their commitment to us, I suspect it will be a good idea to have something to remind them with."

"But the treaties would have to be hundreds of years old. How do you know the seals haven't worn off? It depends on the mage, but the seals usually only last for—"

Kaylee interrupted her, "Okay, get blood and scrolls. Got it." Duncan nodded at Kaylee and looked back to the distraught mage with a small smile.

"You'll just have to find out when you get there." Daya cut in before Duncan could dismiss the group.

"Excuse me sir, did Riordan return with you? I haven't seen him yet." Duncan sighed heavily and frowned.

"Events in Highever prevented Riordan from returning."

"But... he will come back, right?" The hope in Daya's question died when Duncan didn't answer, and sadly closed his eyes while shaking his head solemnly. Daya stared at the ground while thinking about what Duncan meant. The other recruits that were recruited by Riordan silently mourned his loss.

Duncan turned to address Alistair once more, "Watch over your charges Alistair. Return quickly and safely."

"We will."

"Then may the Maker watch over your path. I will see you when you return." Duncan waved me over as the recruits started walking towards the gates. "I see you have chosen a name, good. Did you tell anyone your real name?"

"I spoke with Teyrn Loghain, but no one other than him." He nodded slowly at that.

"Very well." He looked down at the mabari that was wagging its tail by my side, "Your hound should stay with me again. I will give him a tonic that will repel the Blight. He will need it if he is to be a Grey Warden's companion. He will be here when you get back." I nodded and gave Duke a quick kiss on his forehead.

"I'll be back in a few hours, okay boy? Stay with Duncan." He barked his approval and marched over beside Duncan. I smiled at Duncan then went to catch up to the group. They were waiting by the Wilds Gate and started through it when they saw me coming. Kaylee and Alistair waited for me just inside the gate.

"I didn't know Mabari could be that cuddly." Alistair nudged me and had a small smile.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about Mabari, then." I added a sly smile. My mood was immediately improved when I learned I might be able to find Fergus. Alistair chuckled at my response.

"You're right! I don't know when to feed them or what to do when one gets a prick in their paw, I don't even know how one gets one." He raised his eyebrows at me in a not-so subtle way to ask how I got a mabari.

"Well, my father was friends with the Kennel Master and the mother in his latest litter at the time had gotten sick during pregnancy, so her pups were weak and premature. The Kennel Master had his hands full with the pups and some had already died, so I offered to take care of two to help. One of them was too sick and died, but Duke survived and grew to be the big boy his is today. He bonded with me while I was caring for him, so I couldn't really give him back. It's funny though, I had been begging my father for a pet for years and he always said, 'No. One pup is enough.' But he finally gave in when Duke did his infamous puppy eyes." I smiled at the memory of Duke and my father's stare-down that left my father defeated. My smile turned to a frown when the memory dissipated and I was thrown back into reality.

Kenai had shushed the group and stopped our steady march. He crouched down and felt the soggy ground, then made a sound that was between a whistle and a hiss. Eight wolves walked out of the undergrowth and stared at Kenai with a passive expression, one had black fur with strange yellow eyes and looked at the surrounding wolves in a sort of confused way. They sniffed the air as Luna walked closer to one; Kenai spoke quietly and calmly at her.

"No, they may attack." She only stared at him and crouched beside a wolf, who then proceeded to treat her like a pack member and licked her temple. We all looked at her in amazement as she continued getting licked by a wild wolf. Kenai was the most surprised while Zoey didn't seem fazed. The black wolf also looked at Luna with what could only be defined as amazement. I never knew that animals could be so expressive. Luna and the black wolf stared at each other for a few tense seconds. The group had long since gone silent and were barely breathing in order to be as motionless as possible, as not to ruin the wolves' calm. The wolf then howled and the seven other wolves ran into the bushes, the black one waiting a moment longer and continuing to watch Luna, then it turned tail and ran away.

I heard a consecutive breath leave the eight bystanders. We could have killed those wolves easily, but I'd rather not kill something if I don't have to. Kenai walked over to Luna in an intimidating stride.

"How did you do that?" His face flicked through many expressions; curious, accusing, alarm...hope? Zoey stood beside the female elf and answered his questions for the mute mage.

"She's always had an animal magnetism. I don't know how it works, but animals have always loved her." Kenai's eye's flicked between the mages suspiciously, then his gaze lingered on the elf's amulet.

"It's more than that." He turned away and stormed down the path we were following just before. He seemed to be very upset with what had just happened. Zoey and Luna shared a concerned look, and Kaylee just shrugged and continued down the path Kenai had stormed down. The rest of us shared a look and followed after them, going deeper into the Wilds.

* * *

It was quiet in the Wilds. Not a calm quiet, more of a tense quiet, as if the creatures in the Wilds thought they would be devoured instantly if they made a sound.

After around twenty minutes of only the dull, sometimes squishy thumps and clinks of armour as we walked, we heard a moan and gurgle from ahead. The group immediately slowed and we readied our weapons. Ser Aubrey took point, holding out her sword and walking forward ready to attack. We walked through the dense forest and saw a man leaning against a log, bleeding from his gut and moaning quietly. Zoey ran to his side with her magic. The man wore leather armour that was covered almost completely in blood and mud.

"Who... is that? Grey...Wardens?" The man could barely speak as his insides seemed to be more outside of his body than in. I heard Ser Jory quietly gag behind me.

"Well, he's not half as dead as he looks, is he?" Alistair words were light, but I could see his eyes were not as hopeful. Zoey began using her magic on the wound

"My scouting band was attacked by darkspawn! They... came out of the ground... please, help me! I've got to... return to camp." Scouting band? No, it couldn't be his. I looked over the soldier once more, noticing the heraldry on his chest above the wound. My heart stopped for a split second before I regained my composure. I crouched beside the man and pointed at his heraldry.

"You're from Highever. Was Fergus Cousland in your party?" The soldier turned his head towards me before nodding and swallowing audibly, Zoey held a canteen to his lips and tipped back. He coughed and I could feel my patience wearing thin.

"He was, I think I saw him being run through before I ran." He shook his head somberly. "I don't think anyone in that band survived. If they did they'd be that way." He pointed weakly down the path we were travelling. "They surrounded us... pushed us further into the Wilds. We left the camp with almost twenty men, I saw most of them get cut down down that path." Zoey's magic wasn't seeming to work, his wound was too severe to heal. Zoey looked over the wound then up to me, and shook her head slowly. She and I were the closest ones to the dying man, the rest of our squad had backed up to give him space. I stood and walked to the group and stood beside Kaylee. Fergus can't be dead. I refuse to believe he didn't get away somehow. Zoey waved her hand in front of his face and his head slumped, then she stood and walked beside Luna on the path.

"Did you hear? An entire patrol of seasoned men killed by darkspawn!" Ser Jory's eyes were like plates full of panic.

"Calm down, Ser Jory. We'll be fine if we're careful." Alistair tried to calm the nerves of the knight but to no avail.

"Those soldiers were careful, and they were still overwhelmed. How many darkspawn can the ten of us slay? A dozen? A hundred? There's an entire army in these forests! I don't want to be mercy killed by a mage!" I could see Jory starting to get antsy and jumping at small sounds. Alistair tried to calm him again by talking soothingly to him. Zoey quietly spoke her defence.

"I didn't kill him, I just numbed his pain as best I could and put him to sleep." Jory looked at the mage then to the man who I noticed you could see the faint irregular rise and fall of his chest.

"There are darkspawn about, but we're in no danger of walking into the bulk of the horde."

"How do you know? I'm not a coward, but this is foolish and reckless. We should go back."

Kaylee piped in with a violent solution. "If we get into trouble, we can just fight our way out of it. That always works." Jory turned to her with his next statement.

"I still do not relish the thought of encountering an army."

"Know this; all Grey Wardens can sense darkspawn. Whatever they're cunning, I can guarantee they won't take us by surprise. That's why I'm here." How can Grey Wardens sense darkspawn? Does it have to do with the blood? Do we have to—no. I can't believe they would make us drink it!

"You see ser knight? We might die, but at least we'll be warned about it first." Jory looked to Daveth and seemed to consider his words.

"That is... reassuring?"

"That doesn't mean I'm here to make things easy, however. So lets get a move on." Kaylee walked down the trail, the rest of us following close behind. I made my way to stand beside Alistair, who was at the back to ask about the blood.

"So, Alistair?" He gave me a sideways glance.

"Yeeeeesss?"

"So tell me; this blood we're gathering," I lowered my voice so the rest of the troop couldn't hear. "Do we have to drink it?" I saw his face turn into a conflicted frown.

"I... I can't tell you that. It's confidential until the joining." He started walking faster and I knew it was true. I bet Duncan is who gave him the order to stay quiet about it, I don't blame them. Not many would want to be a Warden if they knew it involved drinking the Blighted creatures blood.

"You're a bad liar Alistair, but don't worry. Your secrets safe. I wouldn't want you to get into trouble with Duncan." He smiled slightly then and we continued.

* * *

"DARKSPAWN!" Alistair's cry brought us all into action. My mother's enchanted bow was fired into the head of a humanoid figure on a hill, but they were too far away to get a good look at. I could almost feel the blight seeping into the forest around them. Kenai and Daveth took out their bows, and Luna and Zoey fired fireballs and force waves while the rest of the group ran into the fray.

The shorter darkspawn ran into Kaylee's blades and I saw her face shift into horror when she looked at it's face. I'm glad I'm this far away. There were about seven darkspawn and they were cut down quickly enough. Alistair called for us to gather close to him.

"Okay, whoever dealt the killing blow to the darkspawn gets their blood. There's enough 'spawn in this forest for us all to have one." We each went over to our kill with our vials in hand, Ser Jory and Luna had to wait for the next round of darkspawn.

I crouched beside the corrupted corpse and Maker, I wasn't prepared for it. It smelled like rotten eggs that have been inside a rotting deer head and its face was like that of a leathery, decomposing man. Its eyes were an unsettling milky white and s skin was pulled back from its mouth, showing off rows of sharp, bloody teeth. I quickly gathered blood from its dripping head wound and pulled my arrow out from its forehead, then went back to the group. Everyone had a similar expression of disgust and fear while they looked at the bodies, but Kenai only looked angry at them. After we had all acquired the blood we continued through the forest. It wasn't long before we ran into more darkspawn, and Jory and Luna got their vials filled.

As we walked through the forest, we saw many human bodies in the mud. I flipped every body to check for Fergus and was relieved to not find him.

While we were crossing a bridge we heard the sounds of fighting ahead and quickly ran to the scene. There were five men fighting off six darkspawn, and it looked like most of the men were injured. I saw the Highever crest on on mans shield as he blocked the attack from a hurlock and he crumbled under the blow, that must have broken his arm. I fired at the hurlock and my arrow went through it's eye. A second later the rest of the darkspawn were dead on the ground, heavily outnumbered by the Warden band. I scanned the group of scouts and saw that two were wearing the Amaranthine bear and the other three had the Highever crest.

"Thank you, Grey Wardens." I interrupted before the others in my band could ask them any questions.

"Was Fergus Cousland in your scouting party?" The Amaranthine men gave each other sideways glances and rested their hands on the hilts of their swords. A Highever man stepped forward.

"Lord Fergus was leading our party, but he... he disappeared during the fight with darkspawn. We lost sight of him and I think he was taken away by the... creatures." The man looked guilty and queasy, the queasy part was probably from the fact that his arm was most definitely broken and he was bleeding from more than three wounds. Zoey started healing the men as my world crumbled.

Fergus is... Fergus is dead and there is nothing I can do about it. I am officially the last Cousland. I felt the pressure behind my eyes become unbearable and Kaylee placed her hand reassuringly on my arm. I wiped the tears from my eyes and gave her a small smile in thanks. I can grieve later, but right now, I have to become a Grey Warden.

* * *

 **Authors note**

Wow, first chapter done and the second is on its way.

Thanks to the beautiful Warden Nightingale for being my beta reader and to Enchantm3nt for helping me actually start writing this.

The updates will probably be slightly irregular, but I will do my best to have one chapter a week. Thanks for reading! Please review with any comments, I would love to hear what you guys think!


	3. The Joining: Tabris

Damn, first it was the king guy, then the dying soldier, and then the less-dying soldier that told Elissa- I guess I should start calling her Rosaleine- that her brother was out of her reach and probably dead. This was one fucked up place she was in and all I could say is; Damn.

I put my hand on her arm in what I hoped was a reassuring gesture when I saw the tears start to form in her eyes. She gave me a small smile as her thanks and wiped her eyes before steeling her face. This woman is tough.

The human mage used her magic on the man with the bloody arm and she looked like she was getting very tired. She seemed like she was about to pass out.

"Hey, are you okay?" She looked at me and nearly fell over. "No, you're not okay." The little elf mage showed up at her side and let her lean on her.

"Being a spirit healer uses a lot of energy and is very tiring. It took a lot out of me when I slowed the Blight in Kenai. I... I will be okay, let's just hurry." The soldiers were well enough to make it back to camp on their own and started to walk away, but Rosaleine stopped them.

"Wait, you're Howe's men." She pointed at the two with the bears on their dirty armour. "Why were you out with Fergus Coulsand's party?" The three Highever men stepped away from them as they gripped their sword handles slightly. I see where Rosa's going with this, they were probably sent to kill her brother.

"We were sent by Teyrn Loghain to... watch their backs." The Teyrn sent Howe's men with the Cousland brother? What's he gotta do with Howe? Apparently the young noble was thinking the same thing.

"Why would he send you two? Why Howe's men?" Her voice got more intense as she spoke. I wrapped my fingers around my dagger, ready to use it if necessary. They started to squirm and I could see that they had run out of lies. Kenai slowly readied his weapons as well, knowing what they were here to do. The bearded man on the left scanned our group of mostly confused warriors before muttering, 'sod it' and pulling his sword. He didn't get far before my dagger flew to meet his throat and Rosa's arrow made a hole in his companions head.

The group around us made had an instantaneous reaction; the Redcliffe knights turned their weapons on Rosa and I while Kenai jumped to our defense, but the rest were mostly just stunned. The Highever men eyed us suspiciously and held what weapons they could weakly and waited for one of us to explain ourselves. Alistair approached Rosa with a scowl.

"What was that?! Why did you kill those men!? Grey Wardens kill darkspawn, not soldiers in the king's army." She stood ready to fight back if they touched her. This is tense.

"She didn't kill both of those men, I killed one too. Credit where it's due." Most people around me gave me a small glare and Daya nudged me.

"You're not helping your case, Daggers." Daggers? Is that a nickname? I like it, could use some work but I like it. Oooh, I should give everyone a nickname too! I called Rosa 'Arrows' when we were in Highever, I could bring that back. Easier to remember than 'Rosaleine'. Kenai could be Grouchy. I should probably think more on this later; there's pressing matters to deal with right now.

I could see Rosa holding a stare with Alistair, her eyes were level with his nose, but her stare was more intimidating. She was probably thinking about how to explain the situation without spilling the heritage beans.

"The Teyrn and Teryna of Highever were betrayed and murdered by Arl Howe. These men were sent to kill their son, Fergus Cousland... and it looks like they succeeded." Her voice trailed off with the last part. Every human in our group's face turned to shock. The news must not have hit them yet. The soldiers from Highever's face's was a mix of sadness and unbelieving, while the knights lowered their weapons and Alistair looked towards the bodies while contemplating her words.

"I... I suppose they did draw their weapons first. We'll have to tell Duncan about this but," He sighed and rubbed his face. "Just don't do anything like this again." I doubt he's ever had to deal with his charges committing murder- Is it murder? It was kind of self defense. Alistair turned to address the soldiers from Highever who were standing awkwardly to the side. "You there, can you make it back to camp alright?" They nodded. "Good. Um, don't tell anyone what happened to these men. We'll tell our commander what happened, he'll know how to tell the king without getting the Grey Wardens banished again." Oh shit could that happen? Damn. They nodded their understanding and were off. Alistair turned back to Rosa with an exasperated expression, then looked to me as well. "Please, don't do anything like this again. The Wardens are on a tight rope already, you don't have to saw at it." Whoops.

We set off deeper into the forest again. Rosa fell to the back with me and I saw her face was holding back emotions. Poor girl, saw her home destroyed and family killed then heard her brother was dead. I'm all about, 'Play the hand you're dealt' but that shit's messed up.

* * *

There were more darkspawn up the hill towards the ruined Grey Warden tower, but we made short work of the genlocks. Rosa, Zoey, Daveth, and Luna stood to the back firing arrows and magic at the blighted creatures while Alistair, Kenai, Daya and the knights took the front lines. I stayed to the side and got behind the 'spawn. I attacked the one nearest by stabbing it in the spine before jumping to the next and repeating. Soon the first wave was depleted and we moved forward to the ranged attackers; the archers and the emissary who was hurling fireballs at us.

The shielded warriors moved forward first. Alistair and Kenai held their shields in front of them so I walked directly behind Kenai, shielded from the rain of arrows and fire. Aubrey charged forward, protected by her plate mail and helmet, and decapitated two genlocks in one swipe. That's pretty hot. The warriors in front of me made it to the top of the hill and started whacking at the beasts, but the archers to the left of us started aiming to the bottom of the hill again. Uh oh. The mages and rogues at the bottom were unprotected and vulnerable now.

I threw my dagger towards a hurlock aiming downwards and caught it in the eye, causing it to stumble and fall dead... and let loose the arrow it was aiming, Right into Zoey's shoulder. Shit. She fell back from the force of the blow and Luna ran to her side. The last of the 'spawn were dealt with and I ran down to Zoey.

The arrow went almost all the way through making the removal easy but not painless. She had tears in her eyes and made a small strangled sound as it was pulled out, ouch. She used a bit of magic on her shoulder but it seemed weaker than it was before.

"We have to get her back to camp." Zoey shook her head at Aubrey's suggestion.

"No, I'm fine. Just... just give me a lyrium potion and I'll be fine." Luna looked through her bag but came up blank. "Did we run out?" Luna nodded her head. "Okay, well, the fortress is just up the hill. Lets just head up and then head back." The group continued up the hill, Luna stayed at Zoey's side and I could see she was almost passed out, but she stayed awake.

The fortress was old and crumbling, the only sign of anyone ever living here was a crumbled chest and some rusted braziers. Daya investigated the chest while the rest of us fanned out.

"Hey guys! This where the paper's supposed to be? It's empty." Alistair ran over and looked for himself. While they were crowding the chest, I heard Kenai's bow be pulled. I turned around and saw him aiming at a scantily clad woman slowly descending the broken stair case.

"Well, well. What have we here?" Her velvety voice drew the attention of everyone in the group and they all drew their weapons. The woman's hair was raven black, a deep contrast to her ivory skin, and her eyes were gold. Purple fabric barely covered her small chest and there was gold jewelry around her neck along with a wooden staff on her back. "Are you vultures, I wonder? Scavengers poking amidst a corpse whose bones were long since cleaned? Or merely intruders, come into these darkspawn-filled Wilds of mine in search of easy prey?" She scanned our group and rested her gaze on Luna. "What say you, hmm? Scavenger or intruder?" Even being exhausted and having an arrow wound, Zoey still spoke on Luna's behalf.

"She can't talk." I could see her eyelids drooping slightly as she spoke. The woman smirked at her answer.

"Just as I suspected. Da'fen returns, mother will be most curious. But you haven't answered my question yet, which are you?" Luna looked at her strangely. Kenai, who hasn't taken his bow off the strange woman, answered her question.

"We are neither. The Grey Wardens once owned this tower." She gestured widely at the ruins

"'Tis a tower no longer. The Wilds have obviously claimed this desiccated corpse. I have watched your progress for sometime. 'Where do they go,' I wondered, 'Why are they here.' And now you disturb ashes none have touched for so long. Why is that?" Alistair subtly addressed the group before anyone answered.

"Don't answer her. She looks Chasind, and that means others may be nearby." He eyed her suspiciously and members of our group scanned the trees for her supposed back up. The woman only gave an amused look and used her arms to mimic a swooping action.

"You fear barbarians will swoop down upon you?" Alistair's eyes narrowed at her and slowly stated his reply.

"Yes... swooping is bad." Does he have a lot of experience with swooping, I wonder?

"She's a Witch of the Wilds, she is! She'll turn us into toads!" What? They can do that? The woman -or witch- let out a short chuckle at that accusation.

"Witch of the Wilds? Such idle fancies, those legends. Have you no mind of your own?" She nodded her head towards Rosa, who had been observing quietly. "You there. Women do not frighten like little boys, and you seem the most... wise. Tell me your name and I shall tell you mine." Rosa looked slightly surprised that she would call on her, but was able to hide the emotion behind her expertly honed noble mask.

"I am Rosaleine. It's a pleasure to meet you." The witch looked surprised and gave her a small smile.

"Now that is a proper civil greeting, even here in the Wilds. You may call me Morrigan." So the witch has a name. Morrigan looked over the group before landing her eyes back on the noble. "Shall I guess your purpose? You sought something in that chest, something that is here no longer?" She nodded towards the broken chest we had been inspecting earlier.

"'Here no longer?' You stole them, didn't you? You're... some kind of... sneaky... witch-thief!" Good one. Daya and I giggled, and Rosa even smiled at his dumb remark. That's like the first 'happy' smile since Highever. Morrigan was just as amused- or annoyed- by his answer.

"How very eloquent. How does one steal from dead men?" It looked like Alistair was getting a little flustered.

"Quiet easily, it seems. Those documents are Grey Warden property, and I suggest you return them." Oooh, Alistair is maaad. Morrigan narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms.

"I will not, for 'twas not I who removed them. Invoke a name that means nothing here any longer if you wish; I am not threatened." Zoey spoke from where she was now leaning on a wall.

"Then who removed them?" Morrigans head snapped around to the injured mage.

"'Twas my mother, in fact." Kenai interrupted Rosa as she opened her mouth to talk. He had since lowered his bow but kept the arrow ready.

"Your mother?"

"Yes, my mother," she drawled. "Did you assume I spawned from a log?" She paced as Alistair spoke, and stopped when she was looking over the Wilds with the sun on her face.

"A thieving, weird talking log." Good one, ten points to Alistair. Rosa gave him a light smack on the arm and a frown. Morrigan looked back, frowning in what could almost be sadness.

"Not all in the Wilds are monsters, flowers grow, as well as toads." She paused for a moment and leaned against the crumbled wall. "If you wish, I will take you to my mother. 'Tis not far from here, and you may ask her for your papers, if you like." She walked back to where she stood before and looked at Rosa expectantly. I guess she chose her as the leader of our little band.

"We should get those treaties, but I dislike this... Morrigan's sudden appearance. It's too convenient." Rosa considered Alistair's words before Kenai interrupted again.

"Why are you so interested in helping us?" Morrigan gave a half-assed shrug.

"Why not? I do not see many people out here. Are you all so mistrustful?"

"Last time I met a beautiful woman in the Wilds, she mugged me and my friend." Kenai's quiet confession, of both that he found her attractive and that he was mugged by a lady in the forest, drew many eyes to him. He blushed slightly and scowled at the attention. Rosa was holding back a small smile when she asked Morrigan another question.

"What can you tell us about your mother?" Can we just get this show on the road? I'm probably going to die of old age before we're done interrogating this woman.

"She prefers her privacy, but I imagine she will be curious enough why you are here." She looked at Luna. "Especially you. Come see for yourself." She turned away slightly and looked down a path before back at the group. I've had enough of this standing around.

"I say we go with her." I took a few steps forward to follow the mysterious woman and I heard Daveth protest.

"She'll put us in a pot, she will! Just you watch." I rolled my eyes at that.

Jory, apparently, was tired of this talking as well. "If the pot's warmer than this forest, it'd be a nice change."

"We'd appreciate it if you brought us to your mother." Rosa was polite and diplomatic as usual. The witch nodded at her request and acknowledged her manners.

"Now that is a sensible request. I like you."

Alistair leaned over to Rosa to warn her. "Careful, first it's 'I like you' but then BAM. Frog time." Oh Alistair. It seemed like Morrigan chose to ignore his comment.

"Follow me then, if it pleases you." As we were about to walk Zoey fell down onto one knee. Rosa looked at her with sympathy.

"She can't come with us; she'll hurt herself. Alistair, we've already all got our blood vials. Why don't we split up? Some go with Zoey back to Ostagar and we will catch up with the treaties." Rosa's idea was more of an order and Alistair thought about it for a moment before nodding.

"Alright, there's ten of us. How does five to camp and five to treaties sound?" He continued after a unanimous agreement. "Okay... Ser Aubrey, Jory, Daya, and Luna can head back with Zoey." Luna walked up to him and shook her head, then pointed at herself and then to Morrigan. "Um, alright, Daveth? You wanna head back with them instead?" Daveth gave an exaggerated sigh before hurrying away from Morrigan and to the group heading back.

Jory and Aubrey, supporting Zoey and Daya, lead them away. That left only myself, Rosa, Alistair, Kenai, and Luna to go to the witch's mother's house. Oh boy, this'll be fun. We started down the path that was over grown and muddy. Somehow Morrigan was able to walk as if it was on flat cobblestone. She told us it should only be a couple minutes, but it felt like hours.

* * *

Eventually the covered path opened to sunlight, even though it was murky sunlight it was still sunlight. There was a statue and a small house- it was barely a house, more of a shack. An old woman walked out the door as we arrived. She wore ratty robes and had messy grey hair. Morrigan spoke as she walked to the woman.

"Greetings, mother. I bring before you five Grey Wardens who-"

"I see them, girl. Mmm, much as I expected." She scanned the group before adding, "Shame the dwarf and mage aren't here, I would have much liked to meet them." Alistair was skeptical of the woman but, I don't know, there's something creepy about her. She turned towards me and gave a small smile as she quietly continued. "Is that what you think, child?" My eyes widened. Did she just read my mind or something? That's a disturbing thought.

"Are we supposed to believe you were expecting us?" The old woman chuckled at his question.

"You are required to do nothing, least of all believe. Shut one's eyes tight or open one's arms wide... either way, one's a fool!" She looked at Luna and smiled widely. "Ah! Da'fen has returned! How wonderful! It's been so long, how have the years been? Oh, don't answer." She cackled at her own joke then looked at Kenai. "And you found him, lovely." Kenai and Luna were both confused by what she said.

"Perhaps Daveth was right, they're witches. We shouldn't be talking to them." The old witch lady ignored Kenai and looked around casually.

"Where are the knight and thief? They would make great conversationalists. Never the less, believe what you will." She looked between Rosa and I before settling her gaze on Rosa. "And what of you? Does your 'noble' mind give you a different viewpoint? Or do you believe as these others do?" She gestured at Kenai, Alistair, and myself.

"I... I am not sure what to believe."

"A statement that holds more knowledge than you'd think. So much about you is uncertain... and yet I believe. Do I? Why, it seems I do." She scanned the group as she spoke, as if she were talking to all of us.

"So this is a dreaded Witch of the Wilds." She turned to Alistair.

"Witch of the Wilds, eh? Morrigan must have told you that. She fancies those tales, though she would never admit it! Oh how she dances under the moon." She cackled at that- for lack of a better word.

Morrigan's face turned into a scowl and she glared at her mother, and spoke through clenched teeth. "They did not come to listen to your wild tales, mother."

"True, they came for their treaties, yes? And before you begin barking, your precious seal wore off long ago. I have protected these." I guess Zoey was right about the seals. She walked into her hut and returned with a bundle of scrolls.

"You... oh. You protected them?" Alistair started angry, but realized what she said before he could finish his sentence.

The old witch furrowed her brows at his response. "And why not? Take them to your Grey Wardens and tell them this Blight's threat's greater than they realize!" Rosa took them carefully and placed them in her bag.

"What do you mean the threat is greater than they realize?" Kenai shifted uncomfortably as he asked. Zoey's magic might be starting to wear off.

"Either the threat is more or they realize less. Or perhaps the threat is nothing! Or perhaps they realize nothing!" She laughed again; it was laugh that was mostly wheezing. "Oh, do not mind me. You have what you came for!"

"Time for you to go, then" Morrigan was all too happy for us to be leaving. Her mother gave her a scalding look.

"Do not be ridiculous, girl. These are your guests." Morrigan sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, very well. I will show you out of the woods. Follow me." The old woman called after Luna while we were walking away.

"Da' fen! Come here child, I wish to give you something." Luna hesitated but stepped towards the woman slowly. When she got close enough, the woman touched her forehead with her index and middle finger and whispered incoherent words. Luna's eye were closed but opened in shock after she removed her fingers. "Do come visit again dearest, we have much to talk about. Bring your isa'ma'lin too." Kenai's face shifted to surprise when she said that and Luna was just as confused.

We followed her through the forest on a trail that was in the general direction of Ostagar. Kenai was muttering something in Dalish, sounded like "Ash a bell an are." He pointed a plant out to me and told me it was the flower the dog man wanted. With that we were all set to start the joining and leave these blasted woods.

We met up with the other half of our group in the Wilds. Apparently they had gotten lost and had quite the adventure; they found seven Chasind trail signs that Daveth recognized and it brought them to a Chasind cache that had small mage robes- which were given to Luna- two weapons, a bow, and a helmet as well as an enchanted necklace.

They also recovered a lockbox from the body of a dead Missionary that wanted the box to be taken to his wife in Redcliffe. Daya had opened the lockbox and taken it's valuable contents but still planned to bring the box and amulet to the woman in Redcliffe. Inside one of the boxes was a lyrium potion that gave Zoey enough energy to fix her shoulder wound.

* * *

We entered the gates of Ostagar together just as the sun started to set. The witch, Morrigan, had left us as soon as the tower came into view.

I slipped away to the kennel man to give him the flower I found while the group went to Duncan's fire. The man was most grateful, even said he could see about bonding the dog with me! I've always wanted a dog. He said that I should come by after the battle, I just might.

I noticed that the mage that was guarding the chest by the merchant had left. I felt around for the key the deserter gave me and found it on my belt. Now's my chance. I crept over to the chest and unlocked it, giving a quick look around before opening it. Inside were two slick, enchanted ebony daggers with a gold design and a short black bow with the same gold design. Beneath the weapons were two quivers of enchanted arrows and some mage hats, lyrium potions and heath poultices. I grabbed the everything I could carry and headed back to the fire.

As I approached, I heard them talking about Morrigan and her mother.

"-Apostates: mages hiding from the Chantry."

"I know you were once a Templar, Alistair, but Chantry business is not ours. We have the scrolls; let us focus on the joining." Duncan looked over at me as I came up, my arms full of the spoils of thievery. "And where have you been? I'm guessing you didn't find that equipment in the Wilds."

I cleared my throat loudly before answering, "Over there." I nodded in the direction I came. Duncan just crossed his arms and gave a pointed look to the items in my arms then back to me. I shifted the stuff in my arms. "I... uh... bought these. Yeah, from the guy over there. Where I came from." I nodded slightly as I answered and he sighed.

"Do you remember what I said about stealing?"

"Yeah. Don't get caught." He nodded.

"Good. Then I expect no one to run over declaring you a thief?"

"No one saw me. I promise." He nodded and looked back to the group. I saw the knights give me a disapproving look before turning to listen to Rosa as she told Duncan about the men in the Wilds.

"Duncan, while we were in the Wilds we found the remnants of Fergus Cousland's scouting party and two of Howe's men that were sent to kill him. We... killed them and found out they were sent by Teyrn Loghain." Duncan's face fell when he heard about Fergus's party, knowing what that meant. His expression turned to quizzical after she said the last part.

"You say they were sent by the teyrn? That's interesting. From what I've heard, those men deserved their fate. Thank you for informing me, we will speak of this more later."

After an awkward silence, Kenai asks about the joining. "Now will you tell us what this ritual is about?"

"I will not lie; we Grey Wardens pay a heavy price to become what we are. Fate may decree that you pay your price now rather than later."

"You're saying this ritual can kill us?" Daya's question brought many eyebrows closer to their hair. Duncan was not fazed, though.

"As could any darkspawn you might face in battle. I would not have chosen you if I didn't think you would survive."

Daveth was getting jumpy after listening to what Duncan said. "Let's go then. I'm anxious to see this Joining now."

"I agree, let's have it then." That was the first remotely brave thing I've heard Jory say.

"Then let us begin. Alistair, take them to the old temple." Alistair nodded and gestured for us to follow him while Duncan went in the other direction.

* * *

Elissa- Rosa came to stand beside me as we walked and I noticed her Mabari was beside her again.

She leaned over to my ear and spoke quietly, "I was talking to Alistair and I think... I think as part of the Joining we have to drink the darkspawn blood." WHAT?! That's messed up. I looked at her with my mouth hanging open and my eyebrows under my choppy bangs. "But I don't know for certain. I just thought I should tell you. I... I guess I consider you a friend." I had since closed my mouth and smiled slightly at that. I suppose I maybe, 'might' consider her my friend too. Not that I'd ever tell her that.

"Thanks Arrows. Whatever we have to do, it's too late to turn back now. Let's just get er done." Her eyebrow rose at the name I gave her but she nodded her agreement the end.

"Yeah, let's just do it and be done."

On the way to the temple, a man and woman came up behind Zoey and stopped her. Luna and I stayed to watch the confrontation while the rest of the group walked ahead. Luna stopped probably because Zoey is her best friend, but I stopped because I'm nosy.

"Excuse me, what's your name?" The woman had icy blue eyes and short cropped black hair with two short blades over her shoulders. The man to her side had matching features but a large sword across his back.

"My name is Zoey Amell, pleasure to meet you. May I ask your name, and why you are so curious?" Zoey was just a bundle of politeness. The duo shared masks of surprise and glanced at each other before the woman spoke again.

"My name is Astrid Hawke, and this is my brother Carver. We came over because you look strikingly similar to our sister and... you said your last name was Amell?" She continued at Zoey's nod. "That's our mother's maiden name." Zoey suddenly looked very excited.

"Does that mean we're related?"

Astrid let out a short breath of laughter and surprise while she replied, "I guess it does." Zoey immediately squealed and jumped at the duo to bring them into a hug which the man, Carver, looked uncomfortable in.

"I've never met my family before! I was taken to the Circle before I was old enough to remember any of them." Carver stepped backwards from the group hug and scoffed.

"Another mage in the family? Don't we have enough already?" His sister punched him in the ribs with her elbow at his remark. He glared at her as he rubbed the spot she hit.

"Brother, dearest. This is our long lost cousin we're talking to. Don't be an ass." I like her already.

"I'm very sorry to cut this short, but I'm becoming a Grey Warden and we're about to start the joining. I'd love to talk more though, we should meet after the battle." Zoey was smiling widely and I could see the excitement rolling off her. The duo nodded and they said their goodbyes.

Zoey practically skipped up the ramp to the temple where the rest of the gang was waiting for Duncan. As we approached I could hear Jory whining again.

"The more I hear about this Joining, the less I like it." Jory started to pace slightly, pausing when Daveth spoke.

"Are you blubbering again?"

"Why all these damned tests? Have I not earned my place?" I put all the equipment I was carrying on the table and stated to switch out my daggers for the new ones.

"Maybe it's tradition. Maybe they're just trying to annoy you."

Ser Sweet Cheeks- Ahem. Ser Aubrey tried to calm Jory down.

"Calm down, Ser Jory. There's nothing we can do about it now. What would Helena think if you were kicked from the Wardens?" Jory seemed to think about her question.

"All I know is, my wife is in Highever with a child on the way and I'm in the southern reaches of Ferelden doing a series of tests. If they had warned me... it just doesn't seem fair." He shook his head as he spoke. Highever? I peeked at Rosa and noticed her wince when he spoke of his wife in Highever.

Kenai quietly added his thoughts on the conversation. "Would you have come if they'd warned you?" He was looking sick again. I suppose the magic wore off because he was like he was when we got to Ostagar, pale and weak.

"Maybe that's why they don't. The Wardens do what they must, right?" Daveth had a good point, though Jory was not so easily swayed.

"Including sacrificing us?" Again, Kenai then Daveth spoke.

"I've seen what the darkspawn can do. I'd sacrifice a lot more if it meant ending the Blight."

"As would I."

Daya had been listening in and responded to Kenai's words, "You make a good point." Kenai nodded at her then Daveth turned to Jory.

"You saw those darkspawn, ser knight. Wouldn't you die to protect your pretty wife from them?"

"I..." Jory seemed to not have any response, or was cut off by Daveth before he could respond.

"Maybe you'll die. Maybe we'll all die. If no one stops the darkspawn, we'll all die for sure." Jory seemed to be getting annoyed with this back and forth banter.

"I've just never fought a foe I could not engage with my blade." Daveth looked like he was going to reply, but was cut off when Duncan walked towards the group. Alistair, who was standing on the other side of Rosa, had his arms crossed and was watching the members that were previously talking. He uncrossed his arms and stood at attention when he saw Duncan walk up.

"At last we come to the Joining. The Grey Wardens were founded during the first Blight, when humanity stood on the verge of annihilation." He placed a chalice on the crumbling table in the center of the temple. I saw a reflection of red from within and I shared a look of 'uh oh' with Rosa. "So it was that the first Grey Wardens drank of darkspawn blood and mastered their taint." The look I shared with Rosa escalated to a 'oh shit' look. The blood in Jory's face fell down to his toes and left him looking like the inside of a sack of flour.

"We're... going to drink the blood of those... those creatures?" His voice wobbled as he spoke. I would have laughed at him if I wasn't feeling similar. I wasn't sure if I believed Rosa when she first told me, but I sure do now.

"As the first Grey Wardens did before us, as we did before you. This is the source of our power and our victory."

"Those who survive the Joining become immune to the taint. We can sense it in the darkspawn and use it to defeat the archdemon." Alistair was just trying to be helpful, but I think he stirred more anxiety in the recruits.

"Those who survive?" Zoey's previous good mood had since become sour.

Duncan nodded solemnly. "Not all who drink the blood will survive and those who do are changed forever. This is why the Joining is a secret. It is the price we pay. We speak only a few words prior to the Joining, but these words have been said since the first. Alistair, if you would?"

Alistair looked towards his feet and recited the ancient words. "Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand, vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn." Jory looked between the blood chalice and Alistair nervously."And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten and that one day we shall join you."

Duncan held the chalice and called the first recruit.

"Kenai, step forward." Kenai stepped toward Duncan and he fearlessly took the goblet and drank. He stumbled backwards and his eyes turned white, then he fell backward.

"Welcome, Kenai." He then turned to Daveth.

"Step forward, Daveth." Much like Kenai, Daveth drank without hesitation. Daveth grabbed at his throat and screamed. I don't think it's supposed to be like that, something's wrong. He fell to his knees and collapsed forward, dead. Zoey's hands went to her mouth and I saw tears in her eyes. "I am sorry, Daveth. Step forward, Jory." Jory started to backup, drawing his sword as he went.

"But... I have a wife. A child! Had I known..." Aubrey took a step towards him as Duncan did the same.

"Ser Jory! Put your weapon away now! Don't do anything stupid!" Alistair restricted her from moving any closer.

"There is no turning back." Jory looked between Aubrey and Duncan, but kept his sword pointed at Duncan.

"NO! You ask too much! There is no glory in this!" Jory continued to move backwards until his back hit the side of the temple. Duncan slowly drew his dagger as he advanced towards Jory.

Jory lashed out with his sword but Duncan deflected his attacks as he got closer. Duncan had given the chalice to Alistair while he lunged and plunged his blade through Jory's abdomen. Jory's lifeless body hit the ground and blood pooled around him. Shit, shit, shit. Zoey was crying, Rosa's eyes were glossed over, Daya was staring with her mouth open and eyes wide, Aubrey had her head down in a prayer for her comrade. Shit.

"I am sorry." Duncan wasted no time. "But the Joining must continue. Aubrey, step forward." Aubrey gave Duncan a glare, but took the goblet and drank deeply. Her experience was similar to Kenai's, she'll live. "Welcome, Ser Aubrey." So far half of the recruits that were offered the goblet had died. That's not reassuring. "Step froward, Kaylee." Oh shit, that's me. Rosa took my hand and gave it a quick squeeze, I looked at her and she had tears in her eyes. She was more afraid for my life than I was. All I could do was give her a smile.

"I'll be fine, Arrows." She nodded and I walked forward. Duncan handed me the chalice and the inside was filled with dark red liquid that had a bitter smell that I scrunched my nose to. Alistair and Duncan stepped back as I eyed the contents. "Is it too late to request a few shots of whiskey first?" When no one answered, I assumed it was. Oh well.

Well, if I die; then I'm dead, and if I live; then I'm a Grey Warden. The down side isn't too bad. So here goes. I tipped the chalice back, the blood moved closer until it hit my lips. If I thought the smell was bitter, the taste was worse. It seemed to slip down my throat, uncomfortably sliding down and scraping the sides like pins and needles. Everywhere it touched felt numb and on fire at the same time. My vision went black and I felt my knees hitting stone before I was thrown in front of a black Blighted dragon. I could barely heard Duncan's voice though the whispers when he said, "Welcome, Kaylee". The dragon turned its head and... it must have seen me. Its maw opened to show rows upon rows of black teeth that looked like they were getting closer to me until they were upon me, and I was in a black abyss.

My eyes opened and I was met by Duncan watching over me.

"It is finished. Welcome to the Grey Wardens. How do you feel?" I sat up and noticed that Kenai, Aubrey and Daya were awake but the others were still unconscious.

"Like I could drink a pint of that for fun."

Alistair walked over at the sound of my voice. "Really?"

"No I feel like I'm dying." There was a phlegm-y film in my mouth that I had to spit out.

"Such is what it takes to be a Grey Warden."

"Did you have dreams? I had terrible dreams at my Joining."

"Such dreams come when you begin to sense the Darkspawn, as we all do. That and many other things can be explained in the months to come."

Alistair reached into his pocket and brought out a silver cord with a vial of red hanging from it. "Before I forget, there is one last part to your Joining. We take some of that blood and put it in a pendant. Something to remind us... of those who didn't make it this far." I took it as I stood up and I felt my knees wobble.

"Take your time. We have to wait for the rest to wake."

Alistair moved to watch over the rest of the new Wardens, but he kept looking back towards where Rosa lay. Aw, looks like someone has a crush. I wonder if they're all okay.

"Did anyone else die?" My voice was raspy and I had to cough away the scratchiness.

Duncan's answer was slow and calming. "No, the others all lived." Good, that's good. I looked to where Daveth and Ser Jory had died and noticed that both bodies were gone. I pointed to the almost dried puddle of blood and raised my eyebrow at Duncan. He saw where I was pointing and answered my silent question. "Taken care of." Okay, whatever that means.

I moved to sit by Kenai and Aubrey who were leaning against the wall. Kenai was looking more alive than I've ever seen him. What was once his pale skin was back to a natural dark tan and his sunken eyes were no longer dark, but lively and almost glowing. He was playing with his amulet next to the Joining pendant.

Daya came over from the lookout she was at and sat next to me. She pulled a flask out of her bosom and handed it to me. I snatched it and smelt the liquid inside before taking a swig. I coughed slightly after I swallowed because of how bad it tasted.

"That is some shit whiskey, Daya." She chuckled as she took it and put it back in her armour.

"Straight from Orzammar. You know, this is my first time being on the surface. I still think I'm going to fall into the sky." She leaned her head back to stare at the sky and stars.

"Trust me, nowadays falling into the sky is the least of our worries."

"I'm getting that impression." One of the unconscious recruits coughed and became conscious while we were speaking. Luna and Zoey woke up at almost the same time and were given similar speeches to what I got. They were both given amulets and I could see Alistair continuing to look at Rosa in anticipation.

She woke not two minutes later and Alistair and Duncan hovered over her as she woke. When they were finished speaking, Rosa and Duncan left to attend a meeting with the king. Duncan told us to head to the fire where we were earlier.

We got to the fire and sat around its warmth. Around us the camp was bustling; soldiers running to and fro, captains and commanders were yelling and getting squads ready. Luna had stepped into a tent to change into the slightly armoured Chasind robes that were found by Zoey's company in the Wilds. I heard Zoey's compliments before I saw her. The robes had fur on the shoulders and a green fabric that was a nice contrast to her olive skin. The robes covered her front completely and had almost Dalish leggings. She seemed to like them.

We stood as we saw Rosa and Duncan approaching the fire. Her mabari once again ran to her side.

Duncan moved to where he could address the group and Rosa stood between Alistair and I, she looked annoyed. Something from the meeting must have bothered her. "Rosa and Alistair will go to the Tower of Ishal and ensure the beacon is lit."

"What? I won't be in the battle?" Duncan turned towards the young knight.

"This is by the king's personal request, Alistair. If the beacon is not lit, Teyrn Loghain's men won't know when to charge."

"So he needs two Grey Wardens standing up there holding the torch. Just in case, right?" Alistair has a point.

"I agree with Alistair. I think we should be in the battle." Rosa crossed her arms and furrowed her brows. Duncan just shook his head.

"That is not your choice. If King Cailan wishes the Grey Wardens to ensure the beacon is lit, then Grey Wardens will be there. We must do whatever it takes to destroy the darkspawn... exciting or no." He was just talking to Rosa and Alistair now, since the rest of us were probably going to be in the battle.

Alistair pouted slightly. "I get it. I get it. Just so you know, if the king ever asks me to put on a dress and dance the Remigold, I'm drawing the line. Darkspawn or no."

Rosa snickered and looked up at him, "I think I'd like to see that." He looked down at her with a smirk.

"For you, maybe. But it has to be a pretty dress." She laughed quietly and they both looked back at Duncan sheepishly when they heard him sigh.

"You saw the tower when we arrived, it's across the gorge and to the left."

"When will we know when to light the beacon?"

"We will signal you when the times right. Alistair will know what to look for."

"How much time do we have?"

"The battle is about to begin. Once you leave, move quickly. You'll have less than an hour."

"Can we join the battle after?"

"Stay with the teyrn's men and guard the tower. If you are needed we will send word."

"What if the archdemon appears?" You're sure asking a lot of questions, Rosa.

"We soil our drawers, that's what." Alistairs answer was helpful as always.

"If it does, leave it to us." He gestured at the rest of the group. "I don't want heroics from either of you." Rosa reluctantly nodded. Why do we have to be archdemon fodder?

"I know what we have to do. We'll leave as soon as you dismiss us."

"Then I must see to the other recruits. From here you two are on your own. I want you to keep the treaties in your pack for safe keeping. Remember, you are both Grey Wardens. I expect you to be worthy of that title."

"Duncan... may the Maker watch over you." Duncan smiled sadly at his protégé.

"May He watch over us all." Rosa and Alistair walked towards the bridge and Duncan turned to us. "Zoey, Luna; you two will be with the mages. They may send you into different squadrons when the battle starts. Do your best wherever you are sent. The rest of you will be with the Grey Wardens. You can stick together since you are familiar with each others fighting styles now." Okay that sounds good. "Any questions?"

"Will we be getting that snazzy Grey Warden armour that you and Alistair are wearing?" Good question Daya!

"Yes. It is too late to change now, but you can grab a set when the battle is over. I hope your current armour will do. Is there anything else?" No one spoke so he continued. "Good. Then lets get into position. May the Maker watch over you all. We will speak again after the battle."

* * *

 **Authors note**

Big thanks to Warden Nightingale for being an awesome Beta!

So this was a little bit into Kaylee's mind, showing her point of view and thoughts. The next chapter is the battle and I will rotate through Cousland, Tabris, and Amell POV for that.

Thanks for reading, please review so I know if you guys are liking it!


	4. The Battle

Cousland POV

I had told Cailan what happened to Fergus's scouting band during the meeting and he was appalled. He forgave us for the Amaranthine men, but wanted me to be safely away from the battle since I was the last Cousland. So he put me in a tower to light a torch. I would be angry, but what's the point? There's nothing I can about it now.

Duke rubbed against my leg and whined up at me. Duncan had put a harness on him that held my family shield, that had burlap stretched across the heraldry, to his back. It offered him protection, as well as kept it from burdening me. I patted his head and smiled down at him before walking forward with Alistair at my heel.

The tower was ahead, maliciously looming over us as we walked across the bridge. We stopped about halfway and looked over the edge—bad idea. The army was a mile or so below us. We could see the blue and silver armour of the Grey Wardens near the golden armour of Cailan.

The the valley seemed to glow as hundreds—no, thousands of darkspawn emerged from the forest. The darkspawn army easily outnumbered the king's army and I could tell it was not going to be an easy fight.

Alongside the dozens of hurlocks were gigantic, horned beasts that were over ten feet tall. Those monsters could easily rip a fully armoured man in half. I do not want to meet one face-to-face.

Alistair stood beside me as we looked over the battle grounds. I knew we both feared for the lives of our comrades on the front lines.

Once the darkspawn started to charge towards the army, Cailan signaled the archers to attack. They rained flaming arrows on the horde. The men around me pulled their stings and held position. I would have joined, but we had a schedule to keep.

The hounds were next. A stampede of dogs ran into the dark mass, many were killed instantly; impaled by blades and cut down. "For Ferelden!" The king's army charged and met the dark horde in vicious battle. Men ran by, pushing Alistair and myself as we watched a tower crumble from an enemy's flaming projectile.

Alistair put his hand across my shoulders and pulled me down just as a massive fire ball flew over where my head was a moment ago.

"We have to hurry and get to the Tower of Ishal!" Alistair's words would have urged me forward but I was still slightly in shock from the fire ball.

More flaming rocks hailed down on the bridge. Alistair, not wanting to wait for a physical response, grabbed my hand and pulled me across the bridge as he ran. Archers along the rail were killed and crushed before our eyes. Alistair held his shield over our heads to protect us from the rubble being thrown by the boulders.

He let go of my hand as we landed on solid ground. My legs shook from the feeling of nausea from being suspended on the bridge while it was under attack, but I regained my composure. I pumped air through my lungs and saw Alistair doing the same. We shared a 'holy shit' look, but we had to continue. There was a strange tingle in the back of my head.

We jogged towards the tower, but were stopped when two tower guards and a mage ran down the ramp leading to our destination.

"You... you're Grey Wardens, aren't you?! The tower... it's been taken!"

Alistiar laced his words with the utmost urgency, "What are you talking about, man? Taken how?"

The man seemed shaken, to say the least. "The darkspawn came up through the lower chambers! They're everywhere! Most of our men are dead!" Darkspawn in the tower? That's not good.

"Then we have to get to the beacon and light it ourselves!" We should bring these men with us; we may need their help.

"Will either of you come with us through the tower?" The mage stepped forward and nodded. Good, that should balance out our party slightly. I pointed at one of the guards, "You stay here and guard the entrance. We don't want anything coming up behind us." He nodded and I looked towards the last man, he didn't get a choice. "You're coming with us, let's move."

We had to fight through a dozen darkspawn just to get to the door. They were easier to kill now that I've fought them before and their tactics are predictable. I stood to the back with the mage and fired into the beasts as Alistair and the soldier took point. They soon fell and the path to the door was clear.

As soon as we walked through the door I could tell something was wrong. The braziers were put out, the only light source was a bonfire in the center of the antechamber. In front of us were barricades made from wood and metal, and they were arranged like a path that we were forced to follow. Duke growled softly as we looked around.

I saw the trap just as the soldier's foot hit it. "Stop!" But it was too late, the soldier was engulfed in flame when the oil beneath him caught. The mage cast an ice spell on him, but his screams brought five darkspawn running into the room. I shot two down before they got close and the mage used a spell to slow the others down, allowing Alistair to easily kill the last three.

We went back to the soldier, but there was no saving him. His skin was charred and the mage in our company was no healer. Before we could do anything his breathing stopped and he fell limp. I frowned deeply and looked up at Alistair, who was doing the same.

"We have to move." He nodded and we left to go further up the tower.

* * *

Tabris POV

We followed Duncan down to the valley where the other Wardens were readying for battle. Duncan pointed us to a group of Wardens then went to the king. My head started to tingle strangely around the other Wardens. Our group was close to the front, but not the closest to the forest.

Kenai, Aubrey, and Daya were beside me, watching the forest as it started to glow with fire. Darkspawn started to emerge, too many to count. The tingle in back of my head became more intense so I batted at it; I could see Daya become uncomfortable with the tingle as well.

The beasts started to run, gigantic 'spawn walked along side them and I could tell that those were going to turn the tide of battle.

"Archers!" Arrows flew from the soldiers around me and hailed on the charging mass, tearing some down. That only seemed to slow them down momentarily, soon they were back at the charge at full power.

"Hounds!" There go the dogs. Multiple mabari were run through by the darkspawn blades, but the survivors tore into the beasties.

"For Ferelden!" That's our queue. The army charged forth, meeting the darkspawn halfway. The darkspawn shot flaming rocks above our heads into the bridge as I spun my blades and took down two genlocks. These new daggers were nice, the enchantment on them burned the darkspawn and easily cut them down.

Kenai was bashing them with his shield then slicing with his sword, while Daya was savagely slicing and whacking at them with her two axes. I lost sight of Aubrey but I think she's behind me somewhere.

The battle raged around us, fire and bodies everywhere. The darkspawn came in a powerful force, one we would not be able to match. I was beginning to tire, the horde was relentless. We would not win this fight, for every Fereldan that died two darkspawn would take their place.

Weren't Loghain's men supposed to join in? Where are they? Why isn't the beacon lit?

Maker save us all.

* * *

Amell POV

Duncan had sent Luna and I to the mage camp then they had distributed us to other squads. Luckily, we were sent to the same group. It was lead by a red haired woman with a sword and shield. She looks like a strong leader. My job was to heal anyone I could and keep the darkspawn back.

We were positioned in the middle of the troops so I couldn't get a good look at where the enemy was, but I could see the forest glow. I heard the king shout for the archers, then watched as hundreds of arrows flew forward. The hounds were let loose next, barks and howls were heard before whines and yips. I held onto Luna's hand as we awaited the attack, the tingle in our heads—no doubt a side effect from the joining—getting stronger with every passing moment.

"For Ferelden!" The soldiers around me ran and not long after I started to see flaming rocks flying into the bridge above us. A chunk of the bridge broke and started to fall onto a group of archers.

I felt the Fade warp around me as I conjured a force push and shot the shot the chunk off into the darkspawn horde, crushing a couple. The battle seemed to pick up its pace after that, more darkspawn would break through the initial force of men and get closer to the middle. Luna and I were back to back and shooting magic into the growing number of darkspawn around us. They are going to overwhelm us if we can't keep this up.

"Luna, I think we'll have to retreat!" I turned around to look for her and I saw her get hit by an enemy arrow. Her left side was facing me and it looked like it went through her chest. "NO!" I turned back to the onslaught and used a powerful mind blast to get the darkspawn away from my front. When I turned back to where she was standing she was gone, darkspawn replacing her. "Luna!" I could feel the tears pricking my eyes as I furiously looked around the battleground.

All around me was death and destruction. There was no hope in the remaining men, they knew there was no winning with our current forces. Where are the Teyrn's men!? Why isn't the beacon lit? Where's Luna?!

The tears in my eyes fell as I watched over the field that my best friend was lost in.

* * *

Cousland POV

We fought through the floors of the tower, each one more difficult than the last. I picked the locks on supply chests that we passed—a skill Nathaniel Howe taught me before he was sent to the Free Marches—and disarmed traps that Alistair nearly walked into. One floor was full of mabari cages that I opened, the dogs easily slayed the darkspawn and we ran through the floor quickly.

As we approached the top floor, we could hear roars from inside. Alistair and I shared a concerned look as we slowly pushed the door open.

Inside was dim, the moonlight shone through the windows and illuminated the room. Why is there a rock in here?

Then the rock moved; that's not a rock. The massive, horned darkspawn's back muscles rippled as its head turned to us. Blood was dripping from its mouth as it took the last bite of what looked like a man. It was exactly the creature I did not want to encounter.

"Ogre!" Alistair's words combined with Duke's bark made it turn fully and roar loudly before charging at us. Alistair pushed me out of the way before jumping to the other side. The mage in our company narrowly avoided being crushed and ran to the opposite side, where he began casting wards over us then shooting ice at the beast.

I shot arrows into its head, aiming for the eyes, but that only seemed to make it mad.

Alistair went for the back of its knees as it turned to Duke, who was running in circles around it and barking to get its attention off Alistair. But Duke's distraction wasn't enough as it spun and grabbed Alistair, squeezing his armour until a nasty pop and crack were heard before Alistair's limp body was thrown to the side. "Shit!"

I pulled my arrows stronger after that and edged closer to Alistair's body to see if he was okay. Between the ice spikes, my arrows, and Duke's bites, the beast seemed to be getting weaker. The ice must have been annoying it, as it roared once more and charged at the mage.

Sadly, the mage wasn't fast enough this time and got impaled on its horn, killed instantly by the impact to the wall.

"SHIT!" The ogre was momentarily stuck in the wall and I took my chance. I drew my family sword, the enchantment glowing from the Cousland touch, and ran to the ogre. It was low enough to the ground that I could jump onto its back and I drove my sword through its neck at the base of its skull.

It stood up suddenly and threw me from it. I hit the ground hard and hit my head on the stone. The sword stayed in its neck, the white steel burning as it pawed for the unreachable blade. Its moving must have moved the blade into a sensitive spot as the ogre fell dead moments later.

My vision was blurry as I crawled over to Alistair, bleeding from multiple wounds.

As I got closer to him I could see that his armour was compressed inwards, steel bent like leather in the hands of a child. His face was covered in blood, most of it his own.

"Oh no... Alistair..." I touched his face, felt a light breath be released and his mouth started to move in silent words before he was able to talk.

"Th... the... beacon. Light it... quickly..." I nodded as best I could with my surely concussed head and stood up slowly to limp to the beacon. I used the flint and steel that was beside the fireplace to ignite the dry wood and it caught almost immediately, lighting the beacon at the tip of the tower and signalling the Teyrn's men. I hobbled to the window but I could not see the conflict. Loghain's men should be charging now and winning us the battle.

I limped back to Alistair, who had propped himself against the rubble so he could sit up. As I was walking the door burst open and I felt a sharp pain in my collar and chest before I fell. The last thing I saw was Alistair's eyes wide in surprise and horror.

* * *

Tabris POV

The beacon is lit, where are the Teyrn's men? The darkspawn are surrounding us.

Kenai, Daya, Aubrey and I cut towards where Duncan was last in hopes of regrouping. As we were moving I saw a red and gold figure being tossed up ahead. Even from a distance we could tell it was the king's corpse.

"Oh fuck." In the direction he was thrown from was one of those big guys I knew would win the battle. Duncan ran towards the beast and cut it down with his swords before crawling away and nursing a wound. We were about 30 feet away when a large wave of darkspawn came and ran towards Duncan. Shit!

We started to run through the side lines to get to Duncan, but it was too late. I closed my eyes as the hurlock hit Duncan with the sharp end of his ax and ultimately killed him. Oh no... Duncan, I'm so sorry.

The teyrn's men would have been here by now, if they were even coming. "We aren't going to survive this if we stay." I spoke too quietly for any of my companions to hear. The bulk of the wave was far enough away from us that if we left right now, we could get away. I started to walk backwards and grabbed the arms of Kenai and Daya as I went.

"What are you doing? We have to fight!" Kenai ripped his arm away and killed another darkspawn.

"We will die if we don't leave now. The Teyrn's men aren't coming." Kenai paused to looked up to the beacon and back to the battle before letting a deep breath out and reluctantly nodding.

"We have to hurry then." I looked down at Daya, who was looking around the battle scene with furrowed brows and her mouth slightly open. She swallowed and nodded up at me. We crouched behind a bush where we could see most of the battle, but it wasn't a battle anymore. It was a bloodbath.

We slowly started moving towards the northern forest where we could get to safety and warn the nearest settlement but as we moved I noticed that Aubrey wasn't moving with us.

"Aubrey we have to leave, now." The fire reflected in her green eyes and she looked at me with a type of determination I've only seen once before—when Elissa was ready to sacrifice herself for her family and friends. I shook my head. "You can't, you'll die." She smiled sadly at me and grasped my arm.

"It's been a pleasure to fight by your side. Maker watch over you, Warden Tabris." She took a deep breath. "In war, victory." She readied her sword. "In death, sacrifice." Quietly she added, "Adalyn, forgive me." Before rushing out of the bushes and swinging her great-sword through the chests of two darkspawn. She was heading towards the one that killed Duncan.

"For the Grey Wardens!" Maker preserve her.

Daya put her hand on my shoulder and gently pulled me along the direction we were headed just before. I looked back and saw Aubrey fighting off five darkspawn, then it was six, then it was seven, then I lost sight of her. I silently mourned the loss of Duncan and Aubrey as we crept through the underbrush until we hit the trees.

We ran into the forest, only knowing that we were heading north, and that we were possibly the last Grey Wardens in Ferelden.

* * *

Amell POV

The beacon was lit, but my squad was killed, my best friend gone, the other Wardens were probably dead too. Why did this happen? Why would Loghain betray Ferelden like this?

Asking such questions will help no one. I have to fight.

My mana was becoming low as the next wave hit. My nose was bleeding from the excursions and I was afraid I would collapse from pushing myself too hard.

The darkspawn got close and I tried to mind blast them but I only felt a sharp pain in my head. I fell to one knee and threw my hand out to force push the darkspawn away, but I only managed a pathetic blast of air. This is it, I die here.

A rush of magic blew over me and took the darkspawn that had its sword over my head to the ground.

"Luna?" I looked up but it was not Luna. Astrid stood with her hand forward, palm pointing to where the darkspawn was. Her brother, Carver was beside her holding his sword and guarding her back. She ran to my side and helped me up while blasting fire at the other darkspawn.

"We're leaving! The battle is lost!" I heard her words as she pushed me towards the forest edge. "We know a shortcut to Lothering, that's where we're headed."

We ran into the forest, only knowing that we were heading to their home, and that I could be the last Grey Warden in Ferelden.


	5. Flemeth's Hut: Cousland

Cousland's POV

I opened my eyes slowly, feeling a dull pain in my throat and chest. All I could see was the ceiling and ropes that were holding different alchemy ingredients. I moved my hands to feel what was causing the pain and noticed that I was in just my small clothes, laying on a furry bed.

"Ah, you're eyes finally open. Mother shall be pleased." I know that voice. I sat up slowly and looked at my surroundings, I seemed to be in a small home decorated with pelts and books. I turned my head to where the voice came from and saw the woman from the Wilds stirring a pot.

"I remember you from the Wilds... Morrigan? Where am I?" My voice scratched my throat. She smiled when I remembered her name and handed me a cup of water that I drank too fast and started coughing.

"We are in the Wilds, where I am bandaging your wounds. You are welcome, by the way. How does your memory fair? Do you remember mothers rescue?" Rescue?

"The last thing I remember is being on the tower... She rescued me? From the tower?"

"Mother managed to save you and your friend, though 'twas a close call. What is important is that you both live."

"What happened to the battle? Did we win?" She was silent for a moment before answering.

"The man who was to respond to your signal quit the field. The darkspawn won your battle. Those he abandoned were massacred. Your king is dead. Your friend... he is not taking it well." My mouth fell open as she spoke. They... they're gone? No, Duncan and Kaylee... gone. I could feel my breathing start to become irregular and the bile rise in my throat, but I swallowed it down. At least someone else survived.

"My friend... you mean Alistair?" I wiped the moisture out of my eyes.

"The suspicious, dim-witted one that was with you before, yes." Thank the Maker. "He is outside by the fire. Mother asked to see you when you awoke."

"Are... are you sure no one else survived the battle?"

"Some soldiers managed to flee to Lothering, though I don't know how many." I nodded solemnly.

"Thank you, Morrigan, for saving us." She looked surprised at that.

"I... you are welcome, though mother did most of the work. I am no healer."

"Nevertheless, thank you. I will go speak with your mother now." I stood up shakily and started to the door, but she stopped me.

"Are you sure you want to go out like that? The imbecile may enjoy it, but I doubt mother will be so supportive." I looked down at my mostly bare body and blushed furiously. She had a sly smile and pointed to a container. "Your weapon and armour are in there. Mother mended your armour as best she could, she knew you would not want to lose it." She turned away to stir the pot she was at and I opened the chest.

Inside was my mothers legendary light brown Sea Wolf leathers, enchanted bow, and satchel. My family sword was nowhere to be seen.

The ogre. I left my sword in the ogre. Damn it, I am an idiot. I should have grabbed my sword, the darkspawn probably have it now. I kicked the side of the chest in my frustration, after feeling tears return behind my eyes. I managed to damage myself more than the hard wood. Morrigan gave me a sideways glance from the pot as I yelped in pain.

I glowered at the chest and moved to put the armour on. I then re-braided my light brown hair and walked out of the hut.

The sun was bright and temporarily blinded me as I walked out. A figure in dirty armour was standing looking over a swampy creek with an old woman beside him.

"See? Here is your fellow Grey Warden. You worry too much young man." The old woman was Morrigan's mother and the man turned around. Alistair's eyes were full of despair and sadness as he turned but changed to relief when he saw me walk out.

Thank the Maker Alistair is alive. Everyone else is gone; Duncan, Kaylee, Kenai, Daya, Zoey, Luna, Aubrey, Cailan. Everyone I knew since my family died, had died. At least Alistair is still alive.

I walked up to him and threw my arms around his torso in a hug that he returned easily and rested his head on my shoulder. I squeezed him as hard as I could, to make sure he was real. I pushed my face into his chest and held back the tears I could feel forming, I will not cry here.

"You... you're alive! I thought you were dead for sure." I pulled back and shook my head.

"I'm alive, Alistair. We're alive. Thanks to Morrigan's mother." He shook his head gently and I could see dried tears around his eyes.

"This doesn't seem real. If it weren't for Morrigan's mother, we'd be dead on top of that tower." He was frowning deeply and his eyes were unfocused.

"Do not talk about me as if I'm not present, lad." He was shot back into reality and turned to the old woman.

"I didn't mean... but what do we call you? You never told us your name."

"Names are pretty, but useless. The Chasind folk call me Flemeth. I suppose it will do." Alistair and I were both surprised.

"The Flemeth from the legends? Kenai and Daveth were right- you're the Witch of the Wilds, aren't you?" Flemeth narrowed her eyes at him.

"And what does that mean? I know a bit of magic, and it has served you both well, has it not?"

"Thank you, Flemeth, for saving our lives." She nodded at my gratitude. There was a bigger problem afoot though, the Blight. "We need to stop this Blight somehow."

Alistair looked angry as he spoke. "We need to bring Loghain to judgment! Why would he do this?"

"Now that is a good question. Men's hearts hold shadows darker than any tainted creature. Perhaps he believes the Blight is an army he can outmaneuver. Perhaps he does not see that the evil behind it is the true threat."

"The archdemon." If we kill that then the Blight's over?

"Then we have to find this archdemon."

"By ourselves? No Grey Warden has ever defeated a Blight without the army of a half-dozen nations at this back. Not to mention, I don't know how." He shrugged sheepishly at me.

"How to kill the archdemon, or how to raise an army? It seems to me, those are two different questions, hmm? Have the Wardens no allies these days?"

"I... I don't know. Duncan said that the Grey Wardens of Orlais had been called. And Arl Eamon would never stand for this, surely"

"Arl Eamon? The Arl of Redcliffe?" He nodded. "He wasn't at Ostagar, perhaps we could go to him, then."

"I suppose... he still has all his men. And he was Cailan's uncle. I know him! He's a good man, respected in the Landsmeet. Of course! We could go to Redcliffe and appeal to him for help!" We were getting more hopeful with each suggestion.

"Don't we have other allies we can call on?" I'm sure we do. His eyes lit up and he pointed to my bag.

"Of course! The treaties! Grey Wardens can demand aid from dwarves, elves, mages, and other places! They're obligated to help us during a Blight!" Of course!

"I may be old, but dwarves, elves, mages, this Arl Eamon, and who knows what else... this sounds like an army to me."

Alistair turned to me, pure hope in his eyes but a unsure frown on his face. "So can we do this? Go to Redcliffe and these others places and... build an army?"

"Why not? That's what Grey Wardens do isn't it?" We shared a small smile.

"So you are set, then? Ready to be Grey Wardens?"

I let out a shaky breath before answering, "As ready as we'll ever be."

"Now... before you go, there is yet one more thing I can offer you."

* * *

We had been walking for a few hours, Morrigan leading us out of the forest. The distance between Flemeth's hut and our destination, Lothering, was a three day walk. Flemeth had sent Morrigan along with us as our first companion, as a guide out of the forest and a capable mage. Alistair was not at all pleased with this.

It was a tense silence as we walked. Only being broken by noises of nature around us, or Duke's loud investigating of the local fauna.

I would occasionally ask Morrigan a question about the flora and she would answer, but those answers were short. Alistair was the quietest of the three of us, frowning at his feet as he walked. I knew he was thinking about Ostagar and Duncan. I was too, Kaylee most of all. She deserved better.

Every now and then he would speak about something, no matter how trivial but Morrigan would insult him whenever he opened his mouth. Poor guy, he's just trying to cope.

"Morrigan, lay off him." She turned and glared at us before scoffing and walking faster. Alistair gave me a weak nod in acknowledgement but stayed quiet until the sun started to set.

We had stopped in a small outcropping clear of trees. "Lothering is still about a two days journey from here. I suggest we make camp for the night and continue in the morn. You'll need to eat to sustain yourself. You will have to ration it." Morrigan was already unpacking her bag as she spoke and threw a piece of dried meat to me and a slightly smaller chunk to Alistair. I was ravenous and ate it quickly.

I walked slightly into the Wilds to get some fire wood before hurrying back. Morrigan set the fire pit and lit it with her magic. Since it was a magical fire, she said she could maintain it for a few hours without any extra wood.

It started to get cold as the sun set, Alistair took off the outer layer of steel of his armour- it would have made him colder- and I realized that his Grey Warden armour was gone. Instead he was wearing a browny-grey splintmail armour set. I noticed the armour being different but I hadn't really realized his other set was gone.

"Alistair, where is your Warden armour?" I feel like it was a dumb question and he gave me a sideways look.

"Remember how the ogre in the tower thought I was a squeeze toy? Well, it crushed my armour beyond repair, or so Flemeth says. She had this around and gave it to me..." He gazed at the armour then looked back to me with playful but tired eyes. "Did you forget already?" He added a small smile, one of the first I've seen for the past few hours.

"I don't remember much between killing the ogre and waking up. I'm sorry, I should have remembered that." He shrugged and edged closer to the fire. My leather armour had a warm wool lining but I was still cold. I imagine he was freezing in just a thin undercoat.

Morrigan walked from the edge of the forest and pulled a wolf pelt blanket just big enough for one out of her bag then wrapped herself in it. "I put a ward around the edge of our camp. I'm sure your mangy hound will warn us if there is a real threat, but no one will sneak up on us." She turned away from us and laid down with her back close to the warmth of the small fire.

"He's not mangy, are you boy?" Alistair reached over and scratched behind Dukes ear, which Duke was all too happy to receive. Alistair smiled at Dukes enthusiasm and looked back up to me. "I suppose we should get some rest now. Sleep tight, Rosa." I quietly returned the idiom and watched him lay down, facing the fire and trying to get as much warmth as he could. We are going to have to buy some supplies from Lothering, we need blankets or sleeping bags.

Duke moved beside me and I took off his harness, putting it to the side with my bow, and leaned against him. I was shivering and I heard Morrigan scoff after a few minutes.

"I will get no sleep if you continue to chatter your teeth like that. Just take this." She threw her blanket at me and shifted into a furry wolf that curled into a ball beside the fire. She looks like the expressive wolf from the Wilds. I greedily wrapped the blanket around myself, reveling in the warmth before I felt guilty and opened one eye to peek at Alistair.

He was still in his spot beside the fire, his hands were running up and down his upper arms and head tucked in. Damn it, I'll feel like an asshole if I just sat here in a blanket while my friend froze.

I sighed and walked over to where he was laying, signaling for Duke to follow. I laid down facing Alistair's back and tossed the blanket over the both of us. The blanket really was only made for one person as it only covered one of us at a time. Duke squished against my back and Alistair stopped shivering. He flipped around and looked at me quizzically. I blushed slightly after realizing our noses were almost touching. I didn't look at his face but I could tell he was blushing and slightly confused.

I spoke quietly, almost mumbling. "I thought we should share the blanket, but it's only big enough for one..." I mumbled the last part and bit my lip. He paused before saying a quiet 'oh.' I couldn't move away because of Duke at my back. "You can have it. I'll use Duke." I started to stand up but he grabbed my wrist gently before I could stand.

"I... I'm fine with sharing. That is, if you are, I mean. I won't take it from you though, you can have it." He blushed as he stuttered and looked away. He was sitting up now and I sat back down awkwardly as he handed me the blanket.

"I'm not going to take the blanket. I at least have a dog and wool lining in my armour, you don't. You take it." I handed it back to him but he was insistent.

"I won't let myself sleep under a blanket while you don't have one." I crossed my arms and furrowed my brows as he tried to give me the blanket. I must have looked like a child that wouldn't eat their vegetables. He took the same stance and we just furrowed our brows at each other for a few moments. I sighed in defeat, since I'd like to get some sleep tonight. I guess we are going to share.

"So, should I just..." I gestured widely to the space beside him and I saw his eyes widen.

"Oh! Uh... I- I guess?" Oh boy, this will be awkward. I laid down on my side and Alistair laid down behind me. He pulled the blanket over us and scooted forward until his chest his my back. "Uh, is this okay?" I was suddenly very warm between Alistair and Duke.

"Yeah, this is fine... Good night Alistair." We're just huddling for warmth because it's cold. That's all, it's for survival. Eventually I closed my eyes and felt sleep take over my body, I was more exhausted than I thought.

I was standing on top of a bridge, looking over thousands of darkspawn, the dragon from my joining beside me. Suddenly I was inside the horde looking up at the dragon as a part of a hive mind. There was a flash and it seemed to be getting closer, like I was being pulled towards it. Its mouth opened and inside were the faces of the Wardens at my joining, but there were bloody holes where their eyes were supposed to be. The dragon snapped its jaws shut and I fell back into the horde, which was now full of the citizens of Highever. I hit the ground and I looked at my body that was suddenly covered in the taint and spiders. The spiders started to crawl up to my face and I swatted them away, but they managed to get inside my mouth and nose. I leaned back to scream and I saw the dead bodies of my family standing around me. The spiders crawled over my eyes and I scratched them away and clamped my eyes shut.

When I opened my eyes I was in a forest with the morning sun shining through the trees. The sweat that rolled down my forehead from my dream blended into the morning dew and I breathed deeply to calm my racing heart. There was a weight on my side and I looked down to see an arm wrapped around me holding my arms to my chest. The arm released my arms while I was breathing and I released a shaky breath. Duke had moved away from where he was sleeping last night and left me open to the morning breeze.

"Bad dreams, huh?" Alistair's voice woke me up and pulled my hand across my face, wiping away the moisture. I moved away from him and sat up so I was facing Alistair. He did the same, propping his knee and resting his arm on it.

"It seemed so real..." I rubbed my eyes with the heel of my hands, trying to get the memory of spiders out of my mind.

"Well it is real, sort of. You see, part of being a Grey Warden is being able to hear the darkspawn. That's what your dream was. Hearing them. The archdemon, it... 'talks' to the horde, and we feel it just as they do. That's why we know this is really a Blight." The beginning may have been the archdemon, but I think the end was just in my mind.

"The archdemon... is that the dragon?"

He shifted slightly. "I don't know if it's really a dragon, but it sure looks like one. But yes, that's the archdemon. It takes a bit, but eventually you can block the dreams out. Some of the older Grey Wardens say they can understand the archdemon a bit, but I sure can't." He looked down for a moment before looking back at me. "Anyhow, I felt you thrashing around and I didn't want you to hurt yourself, and I thought you should know. It was scary at first for me, too." I was probably going to claw my eyes out in my sleep if he hadn't held my arms down.

"Thank you, Alistair. I appreciate it." I gave him the most sincere smile I could and he smiled back.

"That's what I'm here for. To deliver unpleasant news and witty one-liners."

Morrigan had been packing up camp and called over, "That's all you're good for. Let's leave now, while the sun is still up." Alistair glared at the witch and stood up, holding a hand out to help me up. I took it and he pulled me up easily, then set off to put his splintmail armour on. I strapped my shield back onto Duke and grabbed my bow. "We should have about one more day of travelling. I know of a spot we can make camp then be in Lothering by noon of the next day."

We set off and after a tiring day of walking, we made it to the spot which already had the remnants of a camp fire in the middle. Must have been a common spot.

We shared what little food we had and went to sleep, although Morrigan gave us the blanket with less anger this time. We went into our previous sleeping position and it was considerably less awkward than the night before. It seemed more natural now, and there was no fighting beforehand.

I didn't get a darkspawn dream that night, instead I dreamed of my family one summer in Redcliffe. I was reliving a memory from when I played with the stable boy for the first time, I was about six and he the same age. That was the beginning of a friendship that lasted until I was nine or ten, when he disappeared.

When we woke, I began to think of the boy from Redcliffe. Where is he now, I wonder? Alistair reminded me of him, but the clumsy, chubby faced child just couldn't be the broad warrior before me.

Alistair, Morrigan, Duke and I walked onto a ramp covered in bandit bodies leading to a small town. We had gone through it on the way to Ostagar, but we didn't spend much time here.

"Lothering, pretty as a painting," Alistair said, breaking the silence that had befallen him the past day.

"So, finally decided that falling on your blade in grief was too much of a task?" Morrigan quipped back venomously.

"Is my being upset so hard for you to understand? Just what would you do if your mother died?" Alistair had had enough. The entire trip was Morrigan making fun of Alistair and me doing my best to defend him while dealing with my own grief.

Not listening to Morrigan's reply, I looked to the small town in front of us. I only turned away when Alistair called my name and asked me where we should go, even then my eyes settled on the front of his armor.

"We should probably go to Arl Eamon as soon as we can, but…." Looking around at the town again I sighed and continued, "First we should see if any other Grey Wardens or soldiers made it out," Morrigan scoffed, earning a glare from both Wardens present, "Also we should help the villagers and warn them about the hoard."

I looked between my two companions' faces, getting a curt nod from one and a roll of the eyes from the other. I swallowed and set off down the ramp, thankfully Morrigan decided to stay quiet.

We crossed the yard to the chanters' board, but finding that all the bounties were taken, started off across the bridge. Not halfway across, I felt my arm being tugged. Looking down at it, I saw a little boy with red hair and blue eyes, the same colour that Oren's were. I looked at his eyes, trying to see a refugee boy but all I could see was Oren's lifeless eyes, staring at his mother's corpse. I tried my best to not let the tears building up behind my eyes fall.

"Have you seen my mummy?" That did it, I ran. I don't know where too but I only know I have to get away from that poor boy. I feel sorry for him, we have a lot in common; we were both missing our mothers. Not long after my outburst I heard Alistair yell my name- middle name- and heavy feet chasing after me. Duke had ran after us too, but mostly for the sake of chasing

I rounded a corner of a house, sat against it and cried. Alistair came around the corner to see me sitting on the ground with my knees near my chest and my face in my hands, I was shaking and a steady stream of water was coming from my eyes. Alistair probably didn't know what was going on, or why I had acted that way.

I don't even know why I'm crying. Just so much has happened in the past two weeks, I never got to deal with it. I refused to cry in Ostagar or when we couldn't find Fergus, then in the Wilds with Flemeth, but now I'm crying in front of Alistair.

I don't think he even realize I was crying until I lifted my head to look at him. "What's wrong? What happened? Why are you crying?" He squatted next to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. Much more calmly he added, "Rosa, I can't help unless you tell me what's wrong." Duke nudged my face and rested his head in my lap.

I looked at him for a few moments before wiping my eyes and nodding. I can tell him about the boy. He stood up and pulled me up with him. Duke ran off around the house. I cleared my throat before talking.

"That boy… I only saw my nephew." When Alistair's brow furrowed I added, "The last time I saw him... he was lying in a pool of his own blood." My eyes glazed over while Alistair's immediately softened and he took on a face of sadness and pain.

"I… I'm so sorry." He must have noticed I looked like I was about to cry again, so he put his hands on my shoulders and bent sown a bit so we were the same height. "Hey, hey, please don't cry, if you cry then I'll cry and we don't want that. It's a lot a snot and puffy eyes, really gross; you don't want that." He knew it was a bad attempt to lighten the mood but thankfully it worked.

I gave him a small smile and hugged him. He was slightly surprised to say the least. He returned the hug, it felt like a long hug but it was quick.

Suddenly, we heard a familiar voice yell our names. Then immediately after he was almost knocked over by a bear hug from a dark haired assailant.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **I have the next few chapters done, I'm going to post them a couple days apart.**

 **Shout out to Judy the guest for reviewing every chapter so far. Thank you!**

 **Sorry for all the tears in the first few chapters, it's a hard time for the crew.**


	6. Lothering (PT 1): Amell

Amell POV

It had been eight days since the battle; I've been staying with the Hawke's since we got into Lothering. I discovered that Leandra Hawke's cousin, Revka, was my mother! That made Leandra my cousin and her children my second cousins, but it's easier to just call her my aunt.

I spent my days by helping the refugees with my herbal knowledge, talking with the caged qunari on the outskirts of town- I would bring him cookies that he seemed to like, and by asking Leandra about my mother and father.

Almost every day, lay sister Leliana would come over and talk with me about stories and visit with Bethany. She was the only one outside of the family to know Beth, Astrid and I were mages. Leandra said I could trust her, so trust her I did. I just didn't mention the Grey Warden part, not yet anyhow.

Astrid had a unique background, she was born a mage but she spent an equal amount of time in learning duel blades as she did in learning spells. She used her skill as a cover and to join her brother at Ostagar.

I was with my aunt and cousins when I heard the strangest thing; it sounded like Alistair yelling "Rosa". But that was impossible, as they both died on top of the tower during the battle.

I felt my eyes getting wet as I thought of all the people who were lost. I knew the entire army was gone. The battle was lost and my heart went out to the many brave men and woman who had given their lives, but I felt worse when I prayed to the Maker the night I got to the Hawke house.

I selfishly asked the Maker that the Wardens got to safety, seemingly forgetting about the hundreds of men who died. My thoughts were exclusively on Luna and the others who survived the joining.

Leli had left for the tavern a few hours earlier and was walking back towards the house with an excited smile. I was going to greet her when I heard it again, this time accompanied by a soft weeping sound. I could only barely hear it and set off immediately to find it, leaving Leliana confused and slightly offended. Were there two mabari playing behind her?

I walked down the strip of houses while trying to find where the sound was. I was getting more and more upset and stared to pout, until I rounded behind the Andersons house that was more like an inn at the moment.

As soon I turned the corner, I nearly broke my mouth with how fast I smiled. I let out a loud yell of excitement and barrelled towards my two fellow Wardens.

Alistair seemed to see me first but not in time as I pulled the two of them into a big group hug. They were hugging so it made it easier for me. Rosa said my name then hugged me back, letting Alistair out of the group. Fine by me, he would get his own hug. He spoke before I could supply him with one.

"Zoey? You're Alive! How'd you survive the battle? We heard that everyone had died." I let go of Rosa, now noticing the red around her eyes. Oh, I hope she wasn't crying because of me. I turned to him, looking very confused.

"How did _I_ survive? I found my cousins and they took me here after they thought we would lose. How did _you_ survive? You were inside a tower."

"Long story, we'll tell you later. We thought we lost you, did anyone else make it?" Rosa asked

I looked at the ground and when I looked back up I had the tears from before falling down my cheeks. "Not that I know of..." I sniffed and hugged Rosa again.

"Small world, eh?" We heard a familiar cocky voice say.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **Sorry for the short chapter, a longer one is coming soon.**


	7. Lothering (PT 2): Tabris

Tabris POV

Kenai, Daya and I had been in the Hinterlands for over a week trying to survive. It wasn't hard; Kenai was Dalish so living off the land was as easy as talking for him. He was the youngest of our small group, him being 17 while Daya was 23 and I was 21, but that didn't stop us from appointing him the group leader. At least until we got out of the forest, then he said I could lead, neither him nor Daya were good at the whole 'human civilization' thing.

After being lost 90% of the time during our field trip in the forest after fleeing Ostager, we had finally found the Imperial Highway. We set off in the direction of Lothering, one of the only settlements Kenai and I know of, he thought we would probably make it there before dinner. We had been eating squirrels and other wildlife for the past few days and I was looking forward to some good ol' Fereldan stew with the delicious pieces of grey, boiled meat. The only good part of our adventure was that Kenai taught us how the Dalish trap and skin animals.

We just stepped off the Highway to go around a broken part when a dark Mabari hound ran out from the underbrush and barked at me.

Wait a minute… I remember him.

"Andrastes ass! This is the Mabari I helped at Ostagar; you know the one I had you find those flowers for?" I looked pointedly at Kenai while squatting down to pet the dog. "Hey boy, what're you doing here?" I only received a bark as an answer. "Wanna come with us?" He barked happily and wagged his tail. "I'll take that as a yes. Hmm, you're going to need a name aren't you, boy?" I thought for a few moments before I came up with the best name for him, I laughed as I said it. "How do you like Barkspawn?" I heard Daya chuckle and Kenai sigh. I stood up with my hands on my hips and my smile wide. "It's perfect. Welcome aboard our little gang of deserters."

We continued up the Imperial Highway until we saw Lothering, only one obstacle, which was taken care of fast. Those bandits didn't stand a chance, not against a jacked dwarf, two angry elves and a full grown Marbari war hound.

We went to the Chanters' board, hoping to get some money for real food. And to help, of course.

After killing the bandits by the creek, saving some dwarves, and handing in the bounty; we went to the tavern.

Sadly, Barkspawn had to stay outside. When we entered we came face to face with Loghain's men.

"Hey! You're the Grey Wardens that killed the King!" What? "You'll pay for what you've done!" I don't know what he was drinking before we got here but it must have been strong. I unsheathed my dagger the same time he bought out his mace. He's lucky the Chantry sister told us to stop or he would have lost more than his life, my dagger was inches away from castrating him.

"Please! No one has to die here! Let them go." She had a strange but smooth accent. Was she crazy? But, letting them live and having them run back to Loghain with their tails between their legs was a tempting idea.

"Alright. Guess what Fuckboy, you're free to go." He started to thank me and stand up, I wasn't done yet. I made it clear when my dagger was at his throat, halting his progress. "Take a message to Loghain. Tell him the Grey Wardens know what really happened and that we are coming to get revenge for our friends."

Daya spoke up after I finished, "You seem to have forgotten that we were in the battle too. Tell the nug-humper he won't get away with this, or we will find you, and send you back to your 'Maker' painfully."

"Make sure you thank the pretty lady that won you your life." They nearly tripped over each other to thank the woman after I threw my dagger past one mans ear, causing it to bleed. That wasn't even the best part, a server was walking slowly behind where the men were with a tray of ale. The dagger slipped through the handle of one cup and pinned it to the wall, spilling some ale but leaving most in the cup.

Holy shit. I didn't even mean to do that, but it was the coolest thing I've ever done! I hope everybody saw that, because I will probably never be able to do it again.

I casually walked over and grabbed the ale, pulling my dagger from the wall and flipped a silver coin to the waiter. That seemed to have done it, the men ran out of the tavern like a bat out of the Deep Roads, as Daya would say.

I chuckled and took a large sip of the ale before turning to the Sister. I noticed she had red hair like me; but a slightly lighter red, and the bluest eyes I've ever seen- bluer than Rosa's. She started talking before I could even open my mouth.

"Thank you for not killing them. You are Grey Wardens, No?" I nodded dumbly after a mental dispute on whether or not I should lie. "Good. That is why I'm coming with you."

"Aha… what?" she looked doubtful and shy when she continued.

"The Maker told me so. I had a dream, a vision. He told me to go with you. You will need my help fighting the Blight." I stared at her for a few moments before chugging the last bit of ale and letting my sarcastic side out. I usually used sarcasm to get out of difficult situations; it was my backup plan that never failed.

"The Maker's on my side? Welcome aboard then!" I threw my arms in the air, releasing the tankard and causing it to go flying across the tavern. I didn't really know why I said she could come but I suppose it's better than saying no and potentially feeling the wraith of the Maker. The sister's face lit up immediately.

"Are you drunk already? Why would we bring her with us?" Kenai spoke up for the first time since we entered Lothering.

"We will need help if we are to stop Loghain. Not to mention a Blight." Shit. How are we supposed to stop a Blight? There were only three Grey Wardens that we know of. "Has anyone come from Ostagar in the past week or so?" The sister looked thoughtful before answering.

"Yes. I believe there were a few stragglers that came from the south, I believe they were Ash Warriors. But other than that, I don't know. OH! My friends found one of their cousins on the battle field! Her name is Zoey, she was in the Kings army. They got here together a few days ago as well." Wait Zoey?

"Is her name Zoey Amell?" I needed to know if our sister was alive.

"Yes that is her name! Did you know her?" Hell yeah I did.

"She's a Grey Warden like us, we thought she died." At that the sister became slightly suspicious.

"She never mentioned being a Grey Warden. She doesn't even have any weapons." I knew that was a test. She knew she was in the army and that she didn't have weapons, she must know she's a mage. I rolled my eyes at her trying to protect our little friend; well Zoey was taller than me, but only barely. She was a short human. In fact, this woman was a short human too.

"That's because she doesn't need weapons, and you know why." The sister's eyes lit up when I passed her test. Wait, I should stop calling her sister. I need her name if she will be traveling with us. "What's your name anyways?"

"Oh, where are my manners, you may call me Leliana." She added a curtsy at the end, fancy. Well I suppose it's my turn.

"And you can call me Kaylee. This is Daya and Kenai." They each nodded a greeting as I introduced them. "Now take us to Zoey." The sister, Leliana, nodded and motioned for us to follow. Barkspawn followed us out.

We left in the direction of the row of houses and as we were walking I scanned the town. I saw a tall woman that I recognized as Astrid Hawke from Ostagar. Now that I can see her face better, I noted that she couldn't have been that much older than me. She smiled at Leliana and gave us a nod from her spot leaning on the fence.

"That's Astrid Hawke, the oldest of Zoey's cousins." We would have stopped to talk but we were in a hurry. I looked at Astrid again and saw her eyes were focused on something near the bridge. I followed her eyes and saw a scantily clad woman with black hair in a bun and yellow eyes much like my own. Oh! I remember her, Morgan or Megan or something, she was in the wilds and took us to her mother to get the treaties. She had her arms crossed and seemed to be glaring in the direction of a house. Eh, not my problem.

A mabari ran from behind the house and Barkspawn ran towards it. Wait... that mabari is familiar, it has a harness and shield on it's back. I gasped when it clicked that that dog must be Rosa's dog Duke.

I continued to follow Leliana but she had stopped. I looked in front of us and only saw long dark brown hair and a piece of a blue skirt run behind the building Megan was glaring at. Leliana looked back at me confused and pointed at the house. "I just saw her run behind that house. I will go change into my traveling clothes and say my farewells, I will see you again in about an hour." Oh yeah, she coming with us. Leliana walked away and we jogged towards the house. I was getting my hopes up, that never ends well.

"Holy shit," I whispered as my crew came around the corner to see not only one, but three of the Wardens we thought were dead. "Small world, Eh?" I said that much louder and the three of them turned towards me.

"Well, slap my ass and call me a nug, you guys are alive!" Daya walked towards them with her arms open, arms that were soon full of a jumping Zoey. Even Kenai smiled. Wait, he smiled? I had to do a double take, he had a nice smile. He walked forward and took Alistair's arm in his own, must have been a man thing. I walked up to Rosa and gave her a tight hug.

"It's damn good to see you Elissa, how're you holding up?" I whispered it so only she could hear. I saw the red eyes, I knew she was crying. She pulled away smiling though, that was a good thing.

"I'm better now that I know it isn't just Alistair and I." she gave my hand a squeeze. I just realized that she almost lost everyone again and my face fell. I saw it happen the first time, then not a week later, it happened again. She must have seen the look on my face because she grabbed my shoulders. "Hey, don't." I nodded and turned to our group.

"Wow. Today got a lot better really fast." Everyone nodded. "Now, to get down to business, we need a plan of action-" Wait a minute, Rosa and Alistair were on top of a tower, and that tower was full of darkspawn. How the hell did they get off it?

Apparently Kenai was thinking the same thing, "Hold on… You two were on top of a tower that became overrun by darkspawn." He stated slowly, his Dalish accent rolling the syllables. We all looked directly at Rosa and Alistair. The two Wardens we were interrogating swallowed and glanced at each other. "How did you get off?" They managed to look guilty, and that made me even more curious.

Rosa spoke first, "Well… we… um, we almost died and… do you remember the women from the wilds? Morrigan and her mother?" That was her name. We nodded, how could we have forgotten? "Well, her mother is Flemeth, the witch of the wilds….." Kenai looked extremely alarmed at that,

"Asha'bellanar? She is a very dangerous witch; tell me you did not make a deal with her?" Rosa and Alistair shared a worried glance. Alistair continued the story.

"Well, we didn't exactly make a deal with her, she just flew to the top of the tower and picked up our bodies and healed us. Then she told us to take Morrigan when we left and to stop the blight, by ourselves. No pressure." That's the name, Morrigan.

Kenai had an unreadable expression so I ignored him. We have to get this show on the road. "Amazing, you should write a book. Now that that's cleared up, we have a nation depending on us. And people think we killed the King." That earned me two loud 'WHAT?'s from my two favorite Wardens. "Well it's not like I started the rumor. Loghain did. Now, we need to do things around here and find Leliana." I sighed that last part. It wasn't like I hated her, I just would prefer if she would take her craziness and stay far away from my friends.

"You know Leliana?" Zoey's face reminded me of that little boy we passed: Confused and innocent.

"Yep. She's coming with us." I said as I turned away and walked back around the house. When Zoey tried to ask more questions I told her to ask Leliana when we found her.

I walked back to the bridge, not letting the relief that overcame me when I saw the other Wardens overwhelm me. I played it off as being a casual relief but I am so damn thankful they survived.

We almost had to stop a blight with three new recruits, we would have really let down Fereldan. I let out a deep breath. Thank the Maker Rosa and Alistair survived, if anyone could rally an army it would be the Cousland girl. As a side note, Kenai and I should talk to her about that. She may still not want the group to know about her heritage, but I would like to call her Elissa again.

I waited by the bridge for Leliana to come back from the Chantry. I watched our group follow Zoey back to the house that must belong to her aunt. I waited for a few more minutes before I felt a tap on my shoulder. Instinct almost made me break their nose, but self-control forced me to turn around before I did anything rash.

When I turned around I saw a woman in leather armour, damn did she fill out that armour well. I looked her up and down before my gaze settled on her head of red hair. Woah, if I knew Leliana had curves like that under her chantry robes I would have… I shook that thought from my head. Leliana smiled sweetly at me.

"Come on, let's go find Zoey." I followed her to the Hawke residence. It was a quaint little cottage near the edge of the town.

By the time we got inside, the woman who I assumed was the Hawke mother, was shuffling around the large group of armoured warriors. Leliana followed her in to the kitchen, leaving me to sit in the empty chair Rosa was saving for me. Now would be a good time to decide our next course of action.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **So now they're all together again! This chapter isn't that long either, I wrote a 9000+ doc for my beta and I considered just dropping it onto you guys but I decided to split it up by POV. There's going to be two more around this length when they're in Lothering.**

 **Kenai's accent is the same Welsh/Swansea accent that Merril has.**


	8. Lothering (PT 3): Cousland

Cousland's POV

Leandra Hawke was a wonderful lady, not many would welcome a group of armed strangers into their house. Leandra was certainly more open to the idea than her son, Carver. He was worried about the backlash from harboring fugitives, even though he stated that he didn't believe Loghain, since he was at Ostagar.

But while she invited us in, she refused to have the dogs inside. Duke was put in the back with Astrid's dog, Madam Woofington and, apparently Kaylee has a mabari now, and she named it Barkspawn. I am not at all surprised by that.

It was refreshing to just sit down for a moment with my friends around me, the last time I sat relaxed like this was back home in Castle Cousland. I frowned at the fresh memory and pushed it away. I have a job to do. I can mourn later. Alistair was sitting in a chair to my right and Kaylee walked in with a red haired woman- she must be Leliana, Leandra had mentioned her when we did introductions- and sat on my other side.

I had never seen anyone sit the way Kaylee did, she was like a cat. Sprawled out on the chair, one leg over the arm rest and the other on the floor. I smiled at her silliness. I was so scared that we lost her. I don't know why I was so scared to lose her, since I've only known her for maybe two weeks. She was the only friend I had left, and she's practically a stranger.

Leandra, Leliana, Zoey and Bethany came into the room with some bread and cheese for us. I was starving after eating only dried meat for the past few days. Apparently Kenai fed Daya and Kaylee a similar diet.

Within moments the food was gone. I was still hungry, which was unusual. I've never been this hungry before- it's probably from all the traveling and exercise I had done over the past few days.

Leandra watched us scarf down the food with surprise shown on her face. I suppose we were being quite messy.

I leaned back and noticed Alistair looking at us. "If that's how I ate after my joining, then I owe the other wardens an apology." I glanced around at my colleagues and noticed how messy we were. Kaylee had crumbs all around her mouth and the others were in similar states.

"Sod off, Cheese Boy. We've been eating rabbit legs and leaves for the past week, this is amazing." At Alistair's surprised look from the nickname Kaylee added, "Yes, I saw you scarf down that cheese like there was a sovereign hidden inside one and you didn't want anyone else to get it. Leave some for the rest of us, man." I chuckled at Alistair's face and incoherent mumbling in his defense.

I looked around the group and Zoey had sat beside Leliana and Bethany, who joined us for snacks. We were sitting in a broken circle around the Hawke's main room. Carver and Leandra were in the next room over and the last Hawke was with Morrigan outside.

I realized that two Wardens were missing, Luna and Ser Aubrey. "Does anyone know what happened to Aubrey and Luna?" I looked toward Zoey and Kaylee, since they were probably close to the warrior and mage during the battle.

Kaylee sat up, put both feet on the floor and steeled her expression as Zoey immediately started crying. Oh shit, I didn't mean to, whoops.

Kaylee looked at her hands as she spoke, "Aubrey... sacrificed herself to avenge Duncan." Maker guide her soul. Alistair lowered his head before standing up and walking outside. I should make sure he's okay, hearing about Duncan must have been hard.

Zoey wiped her eyes, "I was with Luna... then I turned around and she got shot by an arrow. She... she just disappeared." Bethany rubbed her back as she spoke. Poor Luna. Kenai looked uncharacteristically put out as well.

A silence had befallen our group, "I'm... sorry I brought it up." I stood and left the deathly quiet house.

Alistair was sitting on a short stump beside the house, resting his elbows on his knees. I crouched in front of him so I could see his face.

"Do you want to talk about Duncan?" I spoke just loud enough that he could hear me but quiet enough for no one to listen in.

He shook his head slightly, "You don't have to do that. I know you didn't know him as long as I did."

"He was like a father to you. I understand." His face morphed into one of pain.

"I... I should have handled it better. Duncan warned me from the beginning that this could happen. Any of us could die in battle, and now most of us have." He shook his head sadly. "I shouldn't have lost it in the Wilds, not when so much was riding on just us, not with the Blight and... and everything, I'm sorry." He looked at me with more powerful puppy eyes than Duke.

"There's no need to apologize." He contemplated his hands before speaking again.

"I'd like a proper funeral for him. Maybe once this is all done, if we're still alive. I don't think he had any family to speak of." I was silent for a moment while I thought of my reply.

"He had you." Alistair raised his head to look me in the eye and had a very small smile lift the corner of his mouth.

"I suppose he did." His eyes met his hands again and the smile left, "It probably sounds stupid, but part of me wishes I was with him. In the battle. I feel like I've abandoned him." I felt the same about my father. "Of course I'd be dead then, wouldn't I? It's not like that would make him much happier. But hearing that Aubrey sacrificed herself for Duncan... It should have been me." He turned his head and looked away from me.

I put my hand on his cheek to turn his head back towards me but his eyes stayed on the ground, "Don't think like that, it does nothing but eat at you." He looked up and thought about what I said while we made eye contact. His amber eyes shone in the sun and flicked across my face.

He cleared his throat when I removed my hand. "I think he came from Highever, or so he said. Maybe I'll go up out there sometime, see about putting something up there in his honour. I don't know." That would be a nice sentiment. I should do the same, if I can face my demons there.

"Maybe I'll go with you when you go. I have somethings I should do there as well."

"I think I'd like that." His small smile returned. "Thank you. Really, I mean it. It was good to talk about it, at least a little."

I smiled softly at him. "He was a friend of mine, too." I thought about how he saved me from Highever, and how I doomed Riordan by making him stay to protect my parents. I regret asking Duncan to sacrifice his friend, it was selfish and stupid of me. I doubt it made much difference anyways.

"That's good to hear. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who remembers him well."

"I'm sure you could ask any Warden inside that house and they'd say the same. He was a good man." I stood up and held my hand out for him to take. "Now, shall we go back inside?" He smiled at my hand and grasped my arm as he stood.

* * *

 **Authors Note**

 **sorry this is short. This is mostly a filler. Only one more in lothering then I can guarantee that the story will pick up speed. Beginnings are slow**

 **Thanks to Warden Nightingale for being my Beta!**


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